Albus Goes to Hogwarts
by LostGetFound
Summary: Picking up where the seventh Harry Potter book left off, this is my version of Rose's and Albus' experiences at Hogwarts. It's my first fanfic, so I hope you like it.
1. The Ride to Hogwarts

**This is a story about Albus Potter and his friends when they go to Hogwarts. Sorry it's short, hopefully, chapters will get longer as it goes on. This is my first fanfic, so please review and please be nice about it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Albus, Rose or any of J.K. Rowling's characters, but I do own some of the others.**

Chapter 1 HOGWARTS

Albus' POV

"Move over Al," Called the short, redheaded girl who had just entered the train compartment.

He had been sitting alone in the empty compartment until his cousin entered. Albus was contemplating whether the sorting hat would really let him choose Gryffindor over Slytherin when she interrupted him.

"Hello Rose," He said as she sat on the seat across from him. Turning to gaze out of the window, he resumed his thoughtful silence.

Rose, on the other hand, couldn't be silent. She was almost bouncing with the excitement of finally being able to go to Hogwarts. "Have you seen James or is he with his friends?" She asked.

"Guess," Albus told her. Unlike his older brother and cousin whom he both loved very much, eleven-year-old Albus would rather be alone with his worries than chattering away about nothing.

She didn't reply, but changed the subject. "Do you think Victoire will talk to us or will she be busy with all of her older friends like James?" Rose asked as she peered out of the compartment for the girl in question. When she saw nothing, she sat back down.

Before he could reply, the door was pushed open and a tall boy with dark skin strode in. Behind him was a shorter boy with an eager expression on his face. "Mind if we join you?" The first boy asked.

"'Course not," Albus mumbled.

"I'm Emmett Shackletbolt," He reached out to shake Rose and Albus' hands.

"Are you related to Kingsley Shacklebolt? He was part of the Order of the Phoenix during the war. And now, of course, he's the Minister of Magic." Rose told them. She had a habit of spouting sometimes useful information.

"Yeah," Emmet said. "But distantly. I don't know him personally, if that's what you're asking."

"I'm Rose," Rose announced as she shook Emmett's hand.

"Rose Weasley?" He asked.

"Yes," she replied. "How did you know?"

"Your hair gives it away," he said, laughing. She blushed, but it was true. Almost every Weasley had bright red hair, even James and Lily had it.

"I'm Benjamin Fredrick Strickland," put in the short, brown-haired boy who had followed Emmett into the compartment. "But you can call me Ben if you want to." Thinking of his middle name, Rose added, "We used to have an Uncle Fred, but he died in the war against Voldemort."

"Don't say that name!" Emmett said loudly.

"Why not?" asked Ben.

"Because you're supposed to call him You-Know-Who or something like that," Emmett spoke like he was talking to a five year old.

"But I don't know who," Ben replied.

"Have you never heard of You-Know-Who? Harry Potter? The War?" Emmett asked amazed.

"No, of course not," Ben said. "I'm muggle-born remember."

Rose pulled a thick book out of her back and gave it to him "This has everything you need to know about the war against _Voldemort_."She emphasized his name as she said it. "My mum said 'fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself' and besides, he's dead. Though, dad does get a bit mad when she says that." She said the last part mostly to herself.

Ben was flipping through the book she had given him, wondering if he was actually supposed to read it and Albus had gone back to staring out the window when Emmet said, "Speaking of Harry Potter…" Albus looked up in spite of himself. What, he wondered, was with everyone's obsession with his dad?

"What about him?" Albus asked.

Emmet glanced at him, noticing him for the first time. "Y-you-you're," he stuttered, noticing the uncanny resemblance immediately. "You're his kid aren't you?"

Albus nodded. "Albus Potter at your service."

"Who is Harry Potter?" Ben repeated.

Albus sighed, seeing the way wizards stared at their father, he and James had pried the story from him years ago. "Years and years ago, there was this evil guy named Voldemort." He ignored Shacklebolt's shudder at the mention of the name. "Well, his real name was Tom Riddle, but you get the picture. He wanted wizards to rule muggles and he also wanted to be immortal. So he gathered a group of loyal followers to help him force people into submission.

"So, they had the whole wizarding community fearing for their lives when Voldemort heard a prophecy that this baby could defeat him. He thought the prophecy meant Dad and tried to kill him. But the curse rebounded and it destroyed Voldemort.

"About fifteen years later, he came back. When he was seventeen, Harry Potter did what no other wizard alive had been able to do for at least thirty years. He killed Voldemort. The end," Albus told him. "Well, there are a lot more details, but that's the long and short of it."

"I hadn't heard about the prophecy." Shacklebolt said. "But every kid hears those stories from their parents like they were Beedle the Bard's or something."

"You haven't heard the story told by the ones who experienced it." Albus said.

"Hey, my mum and dad were there too!" Rose put in.

The door slid open for the third time to reveal a tall blonde girl who looked very nervous. "Um, could I sit in here with you?" she asked no one in particular, looking at the floor.

"Yes," Emmett told her.

Everyone moved over to make room and she ended up sitting between Rose and Emmett. "What's your name?" Rose asked kindly.

"Carlina Prince," She said nervously.

Rose's eyes widened at hearing the girl's last name, but no one else noticed anything out of the ordinary. They went on with their conversation like there had been no interruption, but Carlina and Albus didn't join in. Albus, if you hadn't noticed, kept to himself unless an interesting subject came up. His mum always told him that he got this brooding side from Harry, though his father adamantly denied it.

"Oh, you lot had better get changed, we're almost there." Rose said a while later. She was already in her robes, but none of the others were. They each headed off to change into their Hogwarts uniforms.


	2. The Sorting

**Here's the second chapter. I know McGonagall was supposed to retire, but I like her too much to leave her out. Plus, this way, she feels closer to Albus and Rose because she knew their parents than some random other person. **

**Anyway, please review; I want to know what you think about it!**

Chapter 2 The Sorting

"Where's Nev- I mean, Professor Longbottom?" Rose asked Albus in a whisper.

"I think he's right by McGonagall." Albus whispered back. Still thinking of the ride on the Hogwarts Express, he said "Why did you freak out when that girl, Carlina, said her name?"

"Don't you remember?" she asked. "When you asked Uncle Harry about your middle name, he told you about this man named Severus Snape. I wanted to know more about him, so I asked my mum and she told me about him being the Half-blood Prince." To Al's blank stare, she replied. "Uncle Harry found a potions book sixth year that belonged to the self-proclaimed 'Half-blood Prince'. His mum was a pure-blood who's maiden name was Prince. Carlina must be related to Snape, but I thought all of the Princes' were dead."

"You and your photographic memory," Albus said shaking his head.

"I don't have a-" Rose protested. She was cut off mid-sentence by a call from the other side of the room.

"Hey, Rose! Albus! Over here." Emmet called from the other side of the line of first years. Carlina was standing near him, and Ben was talking with some other first-years a few meters away.

Rose and Albus made their way over to their new friends just as Professor Chudwick the charms teacher led them into the great hall. Everyone exclaimed over the ceiling and Rose explained that it was enchanted to look like the sky outside. Today, there was a full moon, and many stars were out.

When it was time for the sorting, Chudwick called the first name, "Abbot, Melody."

The girl walked nervously up to Chudwick who placed the hat on her head. The hat didn't take long deciding. "GRYFFINDOR!" it called for the whole hall to hear.

As they went through "Anglon, Andrew", "Blackwell, David", and "Daniels, Grayson", Albus realized all of their names were near the end. The hat went through tons of first years until they got to one Albus recognized. It was the boy his uncle had pointed out at the station.

"Malfoy, Scorpius."

As soon as the hat touched his head it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Potter, Albus." There were collective gasps as people realized who this was. Albus saw James grinning at him from the Gryffindor table. People didn't make as big a fuss about attention-craving James because he looked nothing like his father, whereas Albus was a younger version of his father, just without the lightning shaped scar. Chudwick placed the hat on Albus' head.

"Ooh, a tricky one." The hat announced. "Like your father, you could well in Slytherin."

_But I'm not a parselmouth like he used to be_, thought Albus.

"No, you are not." The hat replied for his ears alone. "Very few Slytherin students are parselmouths, Potter."

_I don't _want_ be in Slytherin,_ he told the hat in his head. _Dad said _I_ could choose._

"Then courageous and brave as you are, child; better be GRYFFIDOR!"

Albus hopped up to go sit beside his brother at the Gryffindor table. Immediately after Al was Carlina.

The hat took no time in deciding with her either. "SLYTHERIN!" Her new friends groaned, but the Slytherin table cheered, as did the others when a first-year was pointed in that direction.

They went through a few more first-years. The hat took its time on some people, but on others it decided without hesitation.

"Shacklebolt, Emmett."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Stubbs, Coralline."

"RAVENCLAW!" The Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's ghost, waved to the terrified first-year who ran to the Ravenclaw table.

"Strickland, Benjamin."

The hat took its time, but chose, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Rose's POV

Rose was very nervous by the time the hat made it to her. She wanted to be with her friends, but she did not want to be in Slytherin or Hufflepuff. She had the feeling her dad really might disown her, no matter what he pretended. She was the second-to-last first-year to be sorted. By the time the hat got to her, the only ones paying any attention were James, Albus, and their many cousins Victoire, Molly, Lucy, Fred, and Andromeda.

"Weasley, Rose."

"You are wise for your years." The hat whispered after Chudwick put it on her head. "You are intelligent like Ravenclaw, loyal like Hufflepuff, shrewd like Slytherin, and courageous like Gryffindor, but where to put you? Which quality stands out?"

She later told Al that she had informed the hat she must be in Gryffindor.

"As all Weasleys' must," It replied aloud after a minute of seeming to debate this option. "GRYFFINDOR!" Rose and her cousins let out a collective sigh of relief as she scurried over to the Gryffindor table to sit by Al and Emmett.

After the hat was put away, Professor McGonagall stood up to make her beginning-of-term speech. "Welcome, students! I am Professor McGonagall, headmistress of Hogwarts. I would like to welcome-" By this time, food had appeared on the table and who could fault the children for becoming distracted. The first years were all shocked when the food had appeared on the table with no servers.

James, being his usual rude self, reached for a plate, but the girl sitting next to him slapped his hand away. Al and Rose found this funny, but James couldn't stand being reprimanded by a girl. He pulled her hair hard, causing her to squeak and drawing attention to them. He sat back in his seat, pleased with himself as a bunch of teachers and hungry kids gave him dirty looks. Most of Rose's cousins were sitting nearby, and she saw Molly, Lucy, and Andromeda all roll their eyes at James.

"And that is all, you may eat," announced McGonagall.

Albus' POV

Everyone dug in but the girl who sat beside James, across from Rose and Al. She started to interrupt James' eating to pester him, but Andromeda said, "Shut up, Elise. Can't you give James a break every now and then?"

"Thank you, cousin." James told her glad that someone took his side for once. It sounded to Albus as if this was a conversation they had had before.

"Oh, it's not because you deserve it, James. It's just because you two get annoying." Andromeda added.

"Yeah," Al put in, "They sound like Rose's parents." Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione probably couldn't live without bickering with each other.

James scowled, but Andromeda and Rose giggled. "They do, you know? I never realized that." James gave his little brother a look that told him he'd be in trouble later but didn't say anything.

Everyone went back to their food, Albus thought he would never get used to the wide array of food that magically appeared on Hogwarts' tables. There were pork chops, roast beef and potatoes, carrots, gravy, and even puddings, and after the meal was over, dessert appeared. One thing was for sure, Albus thought to himself, they would never go hungry here.

**I know the ending to that chapter is very... well, it just sort of ends, but I couldn't think of any other way to end it, because I wanted this chapter to just be about the sorting. Oh, and just so you know, Andromeda is like a second cousin of theirs, not directly related and not a Weasley.  
**


	3. First Day of Lessons

**It's always fun to write fanfics for your favorite books. :) I'm trying to update a lot while I'm still getting ideas for it, but the updates will probably drop off later. This chapter is somewhat longer! I spent most of the afternoon working on it.**

**Here it is. Enjoy.**

Chapter 3 First Day of Lessons

"First-years follow me," Victoire called. "I'm the Gryffindor girl's prefect."

"We never would have guessed that one, would we Al?" James asked in a stage whisper to Albus. Albus shot him a look that said don't bring me into this.

"James Potter, not all first-years know everything there is to know about anything, as you seem to think _you_ do." Victoire told him. "Now go to the common room, or do you need help finding that, too? Because if you do, that's just sad."

"See, this is the thanks I get for being nice and helping you with your first-years. But no, you don't need _my_ help do you, cousin?" James said pretending to sulk.

"Just go away and blow up some professor's desk, Potter." Victoire said, giving up on arguing with him. She turned back to the first-years. The arguing cousins had amused most of the first-years- and the fact that one of them was a Potter might have had something to do with it- but some of them looked confused.

"Shouldn't we be going to the common room, Miss Weasley?" One asked.

Looking around, they realized their group was alone in the hall. "Follow me." Victoire motioned, heading towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Oh, got them calling you Miss, now have you, cousin?" James teased.

"Shut up." She repeated.

"You're no fun." He told her. "I'll go find Davies or Elise." He tried to saunter off, but it didn't quite work because he was headed in the same direction that they were, and the kids kept getting in his way.

It seemed to Albus that they couldn't arrive at the common room too soon, so he was happy when they finally stopped in front of a portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress.

"Where's the common room?" One first-year asked.

"Behind the portrait of the Fat Lady," Victoire said as she turned to face them. "And that is what we call her, the Fat Lady." She shot a glare at James who tried to look as innocent as possible. "The current password is higglypunk." She turned to the fat lady and repeated it.

The first-years were awed when the portrait swung forward to reveal a huge room decorated in red and gold. "Boys go to the left; girls to the right."

Albus hurried upstairs to find that his trunk was already at the foot of one of the beds. He and Emmett were in the same room. While there was no one else there yet, they noticed three trunks at the feet of the remaining beds.

Albus had a sense of foreboding as James and two of his friends entered the room. James stopped in his tracks when he saw his younger brother. "No!" He said loudly. He backed into the boy standing behind him. "They can't put us in a room with first years." He told his friends. "Especially not those first years!" He turned to look at the boys behind him. "Can they?"

"I think they just did." The boy James had run into told him.

"Well, while you're here, you might as well come in." Albus said to the older boys.

Albus realized it was going to take James a while to accept the fact that he and his friends were sharing a room with his brother. James had introduced his two friends as Erik Davies and Matthias Thomas. They were both second-years like James, and also like James, they both seemed to have a certain affinity for trouble.

Sharing a room with them did not bother Emmett, but Al was sure they were going to keep him up every night. Especially since James had seen his Marauder's map and memorized all of the secret passageways. It would have been worse if Ginny hadn't been so set against Harry giving James his invisibility cloak. She had been adamant that neither of them have that quite yet.

"Harry Potter!" she had scolded, "Just think of all the trouble James could get into with that thing. Or even Albus for that matter."

"Like father, like son, eh?" asked Ron. "Remember that time second year when we made that polyjui-"

"That's enough, Ron!" Hermione reprimanded him. Unlike her husband, she felt that she shouldn't encourage their children to make mischief. Polyjuice Potion was not a potion second-years were allowed to make. Even older students weren't allowed to make it. The book containing the potion was in the restricted section of most libraries for a reason.

"You're just sore because you got turned into Cat Lady," he retorted, earning incredulous stares from the children and guffaws from both Harry and Ginny. Hermione had narrowed her eyes at her husband and refused to let him tell the story. But the end result was the same; neither of the boys had ended up with the cloak.

As Albus sat down to breakfast on the morning of their first classes, he was unsurprised to see Rose already there. James, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. Albus assumed his older brother was still asleep.

As the owls dropped mail, Albus was delighted to find that he had received a letter from his parents. "Mum and Dad wrote already!" he couldn't contain the excitement in his voice.

"Really?" asked Emmett. "My parents haven't." Albus couldn't help but notice the dismal way his friend spoke of his parents, and figured they must be very unlike his own loving parents.

James had finally arrived and sat at his usual place, a little down the table from his brother. Albus laughed when he saw that the owl had also dropped a letter off for James. "Is that your one letter for the month, James?" he called out teasingly.

James made a face. "Watch it, or I'll send Peeves after you." Peeves the poltergeist was notorious for causing trouble.

As if summoned by the sound of his name, the poltergeist appeared. "Ooh, little firsties, what fun!" he floated above everyone's heads singing an impromptu song about the delights of terrorizing first-years.

"Go away, Peeves," someone shouted which only served to make Peeves more determined to cause a ruckus. He swooped down and pelted students with food from the table until he caught sight of the Bloody Baron headed his way. He was still singing and pelting students with food as he floated out of the room.

First-years were required to take a variety of lessons, from Herbology to History of Magic. Albus found out quickly that magic wasn't as easy as his parents made it seem. Most of the first years didn't even know how to work their newly-issued wands, but judging from what he had seen so far, that was probably for the best.

During the Charms lesson, Evan Attwood had managed to make the feather he had been using explode. A few Hufflepuffs who had been sitting beside him were still walking around with a noxious odor.

In most lessons, however, they weren't allowed to use their wands just yet. There was bookwork and other requirements they had to finish first. At the rate they were going, Albus figured that they wouldn't get to use their wands until second year.

His Transfiguration teacher was especially strict. On his way to Transfiguration, Albus had taken a staircase that had moved while he was walking up it. Then, he had come upon a locked door and he was late to class. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he'd been going in the right direction in the first place.

Professor Edgecombe, the Transfiguration teacher, was slightly overweight and had gray hair and a grumpy expression. She had taken five house points from Gryffindor for his late arrival. Every year, students competed to see which house would receive the most points throughout the year. The winning team would have the Great Hall decked out in their colors; Red and Gold for Gryffindor, Yellow and Black for Hufflepuff, Green and Silver for Slytherin, and Blue and Bronze for Ravenclaw. As many Gryffindor students had reminded Albus after class, the goal was to gain points, not lose them.

Rose's POV

The day passed by quickly for the students. In Herbology, there were students from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Rose found herself standing beside a Slytherin boy as Neville- she found it hard to remember to call him Professor Longbottom- started the tour of the greenhouses.

The Slytherin boy looked familiar to her; she recognized him as the boy her father had pointed out at the station. "Hi, I'm Rose," she said, smiling at him.

"Malfoy," he offered. He didn't smile back.

"Well, do you have a first name, Malfoy?" she asked. Rose had been called a chatterbox for a reason. She liked to talk, and she also had a way of gaining trust easily. It bothered her that this stern, pale-haired boy didn't seem to like her.

"My name is Scorpius. There's no need to ask your last name," he continued. "Judging from the hair, you must be a Weasley."

Rose frowned at him and her hand went involuntarily to her hair. Most people commented on her hair as if it amused them, not as if it disgusted them. It was hard not to take offense at his abrasive attitude.

"Yes," she said haughtily, "as a matter of fact, I am."

She had wondered why her dad wanted her to beat this boy on all their tests; with her dad, you could never tell. But he had obviously known this boy's dad, and if his behavior was anything like Scorpius', she was beginning to understand.

He didn't reply but smirked, sensing that he was getting to her. As they followed Professor Longbottom through the greenhouse, she had a feeling she would be seeing more of Scorpius soon. And the feeling told her this might not be good.

**Even though it's mostly about Albus, I couldn't resist making this part about Rose. I also couldn't resist putting these two together. Put someone so bubbly like Rose with someone like Malfoy… well, we all saw how much Harry and Draco clashed, and Harry's personality wasn't as cheerful as Rose's.  
**


	4. Potions

Chapter 4 Potions

Rose's POV

"Rose Weasley?" a tall, brown-haired boy addressed the girl sitting at the Gryffindor common room table. She didn't answer. He cleared his throat to get her attention, and Rose looked up from her book.

"I'm supposed to give this to Rose Weasley," he said, sounding bored. He motioned to the scroll he was holding. The boy looked to be at least a third-year, and he seemed the type to consider himself above a first-year such as her.

"That's me," she replied.

"I know," he said in a voice that bordered on rude. "It's from Slughorn."

Though Rose was couldn't help but frown at his rude behavior, she took it from him nonetheless. Looking down at the parchment, she wondered what Professor Slughorn could want from her. She knew that both Albus and James had gotten invitations to be in his exclusive club on the first day of school.

She opened the scroll to find an invitation that looked a lot like the ones her cousins had received.

_Rose,_

_ I would like to formally invite you to join myself and a select few _

_students for supper this coming Saturday evening in my rooms._

_Sincerely,_

Professor H. E. F. Slughorn

Professor Horace Slughorn was the one teacher in the school who was known for having favorites. He was also one of the few teachers who had been here when her parents had attended Hogwarts. Every year, Slughorn gathered a group of talented students, some picked for their ambition and brains, others for their charm. He surrounded himself with students he knew had an aptitude to go far.

The "Slug Club" as it was called, rarely invited first-years to join, but she and Albus had both merited an invitation. She knew she had received hers because of her mother, but Albus had received his because Slughorn had to have the child of the famous Harry Potter in his group. Albus' mother had also been invited to join.

Rose had yet to meet the man, but from what she had heard of him, Slughorn was a rather unique individual, unique being either good or bad depending on whether you were among his favored few.

"Hello, Rose," said a pleasant voice, interrupting her from her musings.

She looked up to see a girl she did not recognize staring down at her with books in hand. "Hello," Rose answered. "Sorry, but who are you?"

"I'm Melody Abbot," the girl said. "We have a few lessons together."

"It's nice to meet you," Rose said in her usual cheerful tone. "My name is Rose, but you seem to know that already."

"Um, yes," the other girl replied, taken aback by Rose's enthusiastic smile. "I was wondering if I could sit with you."

"Of course," Rose motioned to the table with her hand. "There's plenty of room here."

Melody placed her things on the table and immediately got to work. As she pulled a scroll out from amid her schoolbooks, Rose noticed that one of the books she was holding was her copy of _A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot.

"Have you read that one?" Rose inquired.

Melody looked down to see what she was pointing at. "The whole book?" she asked. "Heavens, no. I couldn't imagine reading a book that long."

"Oh," Rose sighed. She had been hoping she could discuss some of the events it told about with a fellow reader.

"Have you read it?" Melody asked.

"I picked it up over the summer," Rose replied. "A bit of light reading to get ready for school."

"And you read the whole book?" Melody couldn't contain the surprise that spread over her face.

"Why yes," Rose said. To her, reading was easy and came naturally. She didn't realize that she was an exceptionally bright student, and most students wouldn't consider reading a boring old history textbook fun.

"Oy!" Melody exclaimed. "That's what you consider _light_ reading?" Rose sighed again. This was going to be a long day.

Albus' POV

The potions class had been held in the dungeons ever since Hogwarts had been opened. The dungeon was nothing like a dungeon in movies. It was clean and neat with tables spread out across the room. In the center of the room was a big pedestal with a bubbling cauldron sitting on it.

As Albus walked into class on Wednesday, he noticed a funny smell in the air that seemed to come from the cauldron in the middle of the room. He wrinkled his nose at the smell and wondered what it could be.

"Albus! Over here mate!" called Emmett as he spotted his friend. He was sitting at a table with Rose and two other Gryffindors. Albus noticed that there were students from all four houses in this beginner's potions lesson.

"Hello, Emmett." He replied, taking a seat between his cousin and his friend.

"Where is Professor Slughorn?" asked Rose, craning her neck anxiously.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," said Albus, trying to placate her. "Why are you so eager to meet him?"

Rose didn't respond, but dug through her bag to find something. "Here it is," she murmured after searching for a minute. She handed Albus a scroll that looked remarkably like the one he had received a few days ago.

"What's that?" Emmett wanted to know.

"It's an invitation," Albus told him.

"And what, pray tell, is it an invitation for?" asked another Gryffindor that was sitting at their table. Albus hadn't noticed her before, but neither Rose nor Emmett seemed surprised at her sudden input into the conversation.

Seeing Albus' confusion, Rose realized that she had yet to introduce her new friend. "Albus, this is Melody Abbot," she said. "And Melody, this is Albus Severus Potter, my cousin."

Melody nodded hello to Albus, and smiled shyly. Albus was used to people whispering about him and tiptoeing around him as if he couldn't see them, but most were rarely shy to introduce themselves.

"It's an invitation to be in Slughorn's club," he began to explain.

"Hello children!" boomed a big voice from the doorway. They all turned to see a fat, bald man with a big smile standing in the doorway of the dungeon. "My name is Horace Slughorn, and I will be your potions master."

Slughorn might be old and balding, but he had captured the student's attention with his dramatic entrance. "You are here to learn the art of potion making. Potions can be important to witches and wizards of all ages. Can anyone tell me how?"

He looked around the room, waiting for a hand to go up. When no one else volunteered, Rose lifted her hand. "Redhead at the first table," Slughorn called on her. "What's your name?"

"Rose Weasley," she promptly replied.

"Could you possibly be related to Ginny Weasley?" He asked. She knew he was indirectly asking if she was related to Harry Potter, but she answered anyway.

"Yes, sir. She's my aunt."

"And that would make dear Harry your uncle, would it not?" Slughorn asked. Albus sank down in his seat, hoping Slughorn wouldn't notice him. It seemed he was in luck because Slughorn's gaze slid right over him.

"And do you know the answer to my question?" continued Slughorn.

"Yes, Professor Slughorn," she said. "Potions are used for many things. They make life and magic much easier by allowing us to change certain features or feelings. They can be used for all sorts of things from Veritaserum which forces the drinker to tell the truth to Wragsburn which can make someone unconscious for up to six hours."

"Very good, my dear!" Slughorn said jovially. "Since you seem to know something about potions, could you tell me what is in this cauldron?" He motioned to the cauldron in the center of the room.

Rose seemed to think about it for a minute before replying, "It's photograph potion."

Slughorn's smile only got wider. "Excellent, Miss Weasley! Ten points for Gryffindor. And can anyone besides Miss Weasley tell me what photograph potion is for?" He waited for someone to raise a hand. "Come on, students. This is a fairly easy one."

Melody timidly raised her hand. "Photograph potion is what causes our pictures to move." She knew it was the right answer, but she sounded nervous.

"That is also correct Miss…"

"Abbot," she filled in, "Melody Abbot."

"Yes. If you know the right answer, Miss Abbot, say it with confidence! Photograph potion, as the name states, is put on photographs to personify them. You see pictures everyday that seem as if they move by themselves, but that would not be possible were it not for the invention of Photograph potion.

"This is one of many potions we will learn how to use and make this year. I trust you all have your copies of _Magical Drafts and Potions. _If you will please get them out, we may continue."

Albus sat back up in his chair and let out a breath that he hadn't known he had been holding. Slughorn seemed completely oblivious to his presence, and he would like to keep it that way. He barely listened as the man droned on and on about the wonderful world of potions, and he was not alone in his lack of attention. It seemed that the only student listening was Rose.

At the end of class, as they were packing their things to leave, Slughorn called out, "Miss Weasley, Mr. Potter. May I have a word with the two of you?" Oh, great. Albus sighed, just when he thought he hadn't been noticed, Slughorn called on him. _What could he possibly want? _Albus asked himself. Whatever it was, he was about to find out.


	5. Broomsticks

**It's taken me forever to come up with an idea for this chapter. This is more of a filler than anything else, leading up to the Quidditch game and the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry that has to be in an HP fanfic.**

Chapter 5 Broomsticks

Albus' POV

At breakfast the next day, Albus was greeted by a rush of whispers. He sat down at the Gryffindor table, wondering at the cause for the confusion. At least, he reflected, the whispering was not about him this time. The whispers held an air of excitement. They sounded like whispers of anticipation. Soon enough, he was to find out that that was exactly what they were, but for now, he was focused on something else.

A few days ago, when Slughorn had held Albus and Rose after class, Albus had realized something about the man. Slughorn had no compunction whatsoever for the fact that his little club made other students jealous and unhappy. He felt that these students were better than others and deserved to be rewarded. That was basically the gist of the speech he had fed Albus and his cousin, and Albus didn't entirely agree. In fact, he didn't agree at all.

"What is everyone so excited about?" he asked, coming back to the real world.

"How should I know?" Emmett snapped. "I'm just a lowly first-year."

Albus frowned but made no move to reply. He knew why his friend was upset. Albus had gotten another letter from home today, while Emmett had received nothing. Emmett wasn't jealous; per se. He didn't even seem to expect to receive a letter; he just seemed a little deflated by his parents' neglect. Al hadn't mentioned the subject to Emmett because he knew it was a sore spot.

Looking around the table, Albus saw that his older brother was one of the few who didn't seem excited by this mysterious piece of news. In fact, James looked a little pale. Matthias Thomas, who was sitting beside James gesturing animatedly, had yet to notice this.

"I'm sorry," Emmett said, no longer brooding. "Everyone is excited because before you got here, McGonagall announced the date of the first Quidditch game."

"Already?" asked Erik Davies who was sitting beside the boys.

"Yeah," Emmett replied. "I heard that they normally don't announce it until later in the year."

"Blimey," Erik said. "They should at least give the team a chance to practice before the season starts. You can be sure that the Quidditch pitch will be booked solid for the next week after this."

"Who's playing?" Al asked.

"I think it's us versus Hufflepuff," Emmett answered.

Upon hearing this news, Albus glanced over at his older brother. James looked excited, but he also looked like he was going to be sick. Ah, Albus understood his brother's nervousness now. James was a beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This would be his first game, and he was obviously scared that he was going to mess up.

As James' younger brother, Albus had an insight into him that most people missed. He knew James was more insecure than he let on, but James never showed it. And though Albus would never admit it to him, he had always admired that trait in James.

"When is the game?" Albus asked.

"It's two weeks from tomorrow," Emmett said in answer to Albus' question. "Not this coming Saturday, but the next."

"Strike that," Davies said about his earlier comment, "The pitch will be booked solid for the next _two_ weeks."

"I think you're right, Erik," Albus said thoughtfully. "Ravenclaw and Slytherin will want to go ahead and start practicing too. I just hope Gryffindor gets enough practice time in before the game."

"Oh, yeah," Emmett added in passing. "The air of excitement wasn't hurt by the fact that first-years begin flying lessons today."

"Yes!" Albus exclaimed. His parents always joked that James, Al, and Lily were all born to ride brooms. It was in their blood, their father told them. He had been the youngest seeker in a century, making the Gryffindor team as a first year. Their mother had also been on the Quidditch team. James had made the team this year, and they all fully expected Albus to make it next year.

"Wish _we _still had flying classes," Davies said.

"I don't know," Emmett admitted. "I've never been on a broom before."

"But I thought you were from a wizarding family," Albus said, without thinking. Only after it came out of his mouth did he realize that Emmett had said nothing about his family.

"My dad is the wizard," He said shortly. "I was mostly raised by my mum."

Even Erik picked up on the touchy tone of Emmett's voice. "It's okay, mate." He said. "I'm a half-blood too."

Emmett shrugged but didn't reply. "You'll love it," Al told him. "Flying is not for everyone, but I have a feeling you'll enjoy it."

Rose's POV

Rose was finishing up her homework due in a week at a table in the library. She had been sitting there for what seemed like minutes, but upon checking her watch, she realized were hours. She had gotten plenty done, but now she had to hurry to make it to her next class on time.

She hurriedly pushed her things into her bag, taking care not to crush her new quill. After putting her borrowed books back on the shelf, she set off to her transfiguration class, belatedly remembering that the first-years all had flying lessons today.

Rose immediately turned around, and began heading to the Quidditch pitch where the flying lessons were held. There were a few older students milling around, doing nothing, but Rose didn't see any of her friends. She headed to the castle doors, not paying much mind to where she was going.

Rose's lack of attention inevitably led to a collision with an object in her course. She looked up to see what she had run into, finding it to be a fellow first-year. It was Carlina Prince.

"Hello, Carlina," Rose greeted her cheerfully. "Sorry for plowing into you like that." Carlina looked down her nose at the red-haired girl and did not reply.

"Well, well," said an oily voice from behind the two girls. "Fancy meeting you here, Weasley."

Rose turned to find herself face to face with none other than Scorpius Malfoy. "Don't you have a flying lesson to be at, Malfoy?" Rose asked with a loathing that was unusual for her personality.

"I could say the same thing to you," he countered. "But I won't. Instead, I'd like to know what you and my good friend Carlina were discussing." His tone of voice implied that Carlina was more of an enemy than a friend.

"Nothing," Carlina said quickly. "This little half-blood ran into me."

"Now, now, Rose." Malfoy chided condescendingly. "You're mother should have taught you better than that." He paused for a minute, to let the taunt sink in before adding, "Oh, wait. I've just remembered you're precious mum is a mud-blood."

Her eyes narrowed, and for the first time in her life, Rose contemplated hitting someone besides her brother. "Of course, with that blood-traitor father of yours, you can't have had much home-training anyway." Carlina laughed at Scorpius' goading.

Rose clenched her teeth to keep from hitting him the way her father had taught her. Instead, she backed slowly away. "I'd watch out if I were you, Malfoy," she said, her voice a deadly calm. "Someday, someone is going to take offense at one of your jests, and you are going to regret it."

Malfoy didn't even seem ruffled. "Little Rosie's making threats now," he said solemnly to Carlina. "Aren't you scared?" They both snickered as Rose made her way to her lesson.

Albus' POV

Albus could tell with one look at her face that Rose was upset when she came out onto the Hogwarts grounds. Her red hair made her prone to blushing when she was either upset or embarrassed, and from her face, Al could tell it was the former.

"What's wrong?" he asked as she made her way over to where he and Emmett were standing.

"Nothing," she responded hastily.

"Rose-" Albus began in that tone of voice she knew so well. It was the tone that said he was going to pry the information out of her, no matter what he had to do.

"Alright," she sighed unhappily. "I saw Carlina again."

"Okay…" Albus said, wondering why that was a bad thing.

"She wasn't nice," Rose told him. "In fact, she was really rude. And then Scorpius came up, and he was talking about my-"

"Scorpius?" asked Albus. "Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Yes, of course." She said, irritated by his interruption. "What other Scorpius is there?" He opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off by saying, "It was rhetorical, Al. Anyway, they were talking about my mum and dad."

"You want to be careful of Scorpius, Rose." Albus told her unnecessarily. "What did he say about Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione?"

"He called mum a mud-blood and dad a blood-traitor," she answered.

"What does that mean?" asked Emmett, entering the conversation for the first time.

"Mud-blood is a nasty word for someone who is muggle born. A blood-traitor is a pure-blood who sides with muggles over wizards. All in all, they are not very good words to add to your vocabulary."

"It's almost time for class to start," Albus said, but Rose could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was not going to let this go that easily.

The class began when they heard a voice call, "Listen up children, and listen well. I will give you the instructions only one time, so be prepared to listen to them. My name is Madame Montglove."

"This should be fun," Emmett muttered under his breath to Albus, who couldn't help but snicker.

"Is something amusing you, Mr. Potter?" The teacher turned to him. "Perhaps you would like to share it with the rest of the class?"

"I- erm, that is, no thank you." Albus hated being singled out, and this teacher seemed strict enough to embarrass him further if he didn't apologize sufficiently.

"That's what I thought," she replied. She then went on to teach them the rules of how to work the broomsticks. All of which, Albus already knew. He was itching to be allowed on a broom, and couldn't help but whisper, "Finally!" when Madame Montglove finally called, "Everyone stand by a broomstick."

Rose, Al, and Emmett all ended up standing near each other. "Now, Put your right hand out over your broom, and say, 'Up!'"

Albus was unsurprised when his broom immediately jumped into his hand. He was also unsurprised that Rose's broom did not. The command was a simple one, but Rose had never been comfortable on a broom. That was a talent one either had or didn't. It couldn't be learned.

He looked over to Emmett, to see how he was doing with the exercise. "Up!" Emmett yelled. He looked frustrated as all the broom did was turn over.

Al chuckled. "You're doing it wrong, mate," he told his friend.

"How do you say 'up' wrong?" Emmett demanded. "The stupid thing won't move."

"First of all," Albus said, trying not to laugh. "I believe she said to use your _right_ hand, Emmett. You happen to be using your left."

"Oh." Emmett said sheepishly. He switched sides, and tried again. This time the broom moved up an inch or two before falling back to the ground.

"Second of all," Albus went on, "You aren't supposed to yell at the broom, or it won't listen to you."

"You talk like the broom is alive," Emmett retorted, but took his friend's advice anyway.

"Sometimes I wonder," was all Albus said in reply. "Broomstick are funny little things."

He watched quietly as Emmett's broomstick soared off the ground and into his hand this time. Emmett nodded his thanks to Albus.

"Funny little things," Albus repeated to himself. He didn't catch Emmett's thanks, because he was lost in his own world, a world where he was riding his broom as fast as it would go, playing a backyard version of Quidditch with his family.


	6. Detention with Edgecombe

**I hate research papers. My computer is currently not working, so I am using a very slow old one while trying to type my research paper and my fanfic. It took me forever to write this chapter because I was trying to figure out what to do to give the story an actual plot. I finally came up with something yesterday. I wrote some of this yesterday during school, and its taken me most of the afternoon to finish it.  
**

**Originally, I had the first part of this chapter on my computer, and it's going to bug me that the new version is nothing like the old, but anyway….**

Chapter 6 Detention with Edgecombe

Albus's POV

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," called Albus as he entered the headmistress's study. He looked around expectantly. He had never been in this room before, but he had seen it on the map that his Uncle George had helped him nick from his dad. Though James, the troublemaker, was more like George, their uncle had a soft spot for Albus. He had given Albus the map and even showed him how to work it. Harry knew that Albus had his map, but he didn't seem to care.

The map showed a lot, but it didn't show the many framed portraits of previous headmasters that lined the walls of the study. McGonagall was getting on in years, and Albus knew that when she retired, her portrait would join the ones on the wall.

"Hello, Mr. Potter," replied the professor, bringing him back to reality. McGonagall was sitting at her desk, and before he walked in, she had been in a discussion with the man in the portrait above her desk. McGonagall was strict but fair, and she always listened to both sides of the issue. Right now, she had her usual stern expression on her face. "You know why you are here, don't you?" She asked reprovingly. "And it's only the second week of school!"

"Yes, Professor," he tried to sound meek.

"Well," she began pointedly. "Would you care to explain what it was that had you out of bed at this time of night?"

"I was helping Hagrid with something, and we forgot all about the time. I was coming back to the castle when Flich found me." He was beginning to understand everyone's dislike of the man.

"That's _Mr_. Filch to you, Albus," McGonagall reminded him. Albus looked down to keep from laughing. No one in their right mind could bring themselves to speak to Filch so respectfully.

"He could have used Harry's cloak then, couldn't he Minerva?" asked another voice. Albus and Professor McGonagall both raised their eyes to the painting above her desk. Depicted in the painting was Professor Albus Dumbledore, Albus' namesake. Albus looked at him in surprise. The old man winked back at him.

"You think that an old man like me wouldn't know a student of his had a genuine invisibility cloak?" Dumbledore asked.

"You knew my father?" Albus countered with a question of his own.

"Knew him?" Dumbledore replied. "My boy, your father was one of my favorite students. Harry was a very bright wizard, especially for one so young."

"We really must be getting back to the matter at hand," interrupted Professor McGonagall. She briskly finished the discussion. "Potter, you will report to detention tomorrow afternoon for breaking curfew. See Professor Edgecombe in her office. You are dismissed." Albus left the room quietly as Dumbledore went back to his discussion with the current headmistress.

Albus walked back to his room slowly, dragging his feet. Detention already. No one seemed surprised that he had detention, only that he had it so soon. It was definitely a Potter thing, this penchant for trouble. He really didn't want to have detention with Edgecombe either. His transfiguration teacher had had it out for him since the first day of school.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed a voice, startling him from his reverie. The voice seemed to come from nearby, so he turned to see who it was. He saw no one.

Walking past a few classrooms, Albus turned onto the next corridor. He still saw no students, but huddled in a corner was the ghost of a young woman. Tears were falling from her eyes. He didn't recognize the sobbing ghost, but there were so many ghosts at Hogwarts that this was not surprising.

Albus took a step closer to her and then another. The ghost looked up but did not stop crying. She looked young, no older than eighteen at the most, and she was wearing robes with a Ravenclaw emblem.

"What's wrong?" Albus asked. It was then that he realized that the expression in the girl's tear-filled eyes wasn't sadness. It was fear.

"She's coming," the girl told him. She floated above the floor, making her way toward him. "She's coming!"

"Who's coming?" he asked a little frantically. It's not every day that a eleven year old boy is confronted with a hysterical ghost.

"The one who killed me. You must be warned," the ghost insisted. She had stopped crying and moving. She was hovering in place. "Be warned," the ghost repeated one last time before fading away. She was gone, leaving Albus even more confused than he had been before.

When he got back to his room, all of the other guys were still up. Erik, James, and Matthias were gathered on Erik's bed playing some sort of game. Emmett had an open text book in his lap, and was scribbling frantically on his parchment. They all greeted him before returning to what they had been doing.

James stopped the game long enough to turn around to speak to his brother. "So," he grinned. "I heard you got detention from McGonagall."

"How did you hear that?" Albus demanded. "I only got detention ten minutes ago."

The other boys had all stopped what they were doing to listen in. "I know things," James said mysteriously.

"Yeah, right." Matthias said. "He-" James clamped a hand over his friend's mouth before Matthias could give away his secrets.

"I _know _things," he repeated, looking pointedly at his friend without removing his hand.

"Whatever," Matthias muttered after James let go of his mouth.

"Come on, James," Emmett put in. "We'd all like to know how you get your information."

"I'll never tell," James said.

"Yes, he will," Albus told the others. "All you have to do is-"

"Al!" James exclaimed. "They don't want to know." As the little brother, Albus could get away with anything. Albus behaved better than James, and from James' many punishments, he could take his pick of what to blackmail his older brother with if he wanted to. But Albus had yet to feel inclined to bribe his brother.

"Shouldn't you lot be going to sleep?" James asked, trying to change the subject.

"We don't have lessons tomorrow," Matthias informed him. "So technically, we don't have to." But the boys all moved to get changed, and soon they had drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't until the next afternoon that Albus realized that his detention was going to make him miss Slughorn's dinner. "Tell Slughorn that I won't be there," he told Rose a few minutes before he was due at detention.

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

"I got detention."

"How did _you_ get detention?" asked Rose. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Albus was the only one in the Potter family who even tried to follow the rules. James' goal in life was to break the rules, and little Lily was so cute that she could get her way easily.

"Long story," he said. "But I have to go find Edgecombe in a few minutes for my punishment."

"Edgecombe?" Rose asked, already feeling sorry for him. "Bonne chance."

"What does that mean?" he asked. Rose had already mastered English and a few other languages. He guessed that this latest language must be French.

"Good luck," she replied. "It's French. See you later, Al."

"Bonne chance to you too. You're going to need it to deal with Slughorn," he called over his shoulder as he hurried off.

"Au revoir!" she called back.

He didn't even try to puzzle out the translation for that. As he got closer and closer to Edgecombe's rooms on the fourth floor of the castle, he didn't pass many students. Most were either in their common rooms or out doors enjoying the free day.

When Albus got to the fourth floor, he knocked on Edgecombe's door. "Come in," came the reply. He entered the office quietly. "Mr. Potter, it's nice of you to join me," she said, not bothering to get up from her chair. "You are late, and I do not appreciate tardiness."

Albus frowned. He couldn't be more than a minute late at the most, but Professor Edgecombe went on before he could speak. "For your detention, you will help me address these letters that must be sent out by Tuesday." She motioned towards a pile of envelopes and letters on her desk. If I am not satisfied with your work, you will have to make it up with a second detention. Now get to work!"

Albus sat down in the chair closest to the desk and began to do as she asked. Looking at the label on the return address, he read the name Priscilla Clamadia Edgecombe. Wow, he thought. With a name like that, it was no wonder the woman was grumpy. She went back to sticking the letters into envelopes, and handed them to Albus for him to address. He was tempted to peak at the letters to see what they were for, but he knew she would catch him. Albus had seen enough magic to know that there was an easier way to do this than doing each letter by hand, but he felt that if he mentioned that to Edgecombe, she might have him doing double detention. Instead, he continued to work quietly.

An hour later, they had finished almost a hundred envelopes in complete silence. Edgecombe finally looked up from the stack of letters. "You did well, Potter," she said grudgingly. "You may go."

Albus didn't have to be told twice. He immediately made his way over to the door. In his haste to get out of the room, he ran into something solid. Backing up, he realized it was a person. "What are you doing up here?" he asked Emmett who had been standing outside of the door.

"I needed your help with something," Emmett told him. "Then I remembered that you were up here, so I came to find you."

"So, what was it?" Albus asked. He would gladly accept any reason if it got him away from Edgecombe's room faster.

"Well… I kind of wanted you to help me with my flying," Emmett admitted.

"But first-years aren't allowed to have brooms," Albus pointed out.

Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Are you opposed to breaking the rules now, Mr. I-just-got-out-of-detention?"

Albus glared at his friend. "I took a broom from the school's supply room. Montglove won't even notice that it's gone." Emmet said. "So are you in?"

Albus thought about it for a minute before replying, "You should have taken two."


	7. Slugs, Cats, and Other Odd Things

**This chapter was so much easier to write than the one before it. It probably took me less than half the time it took to write the other. I should probably be studying for the Biology SATP, but I'd rather do this. **

**I went back over the story and changed a few details to make it fit better for future chapters, so if something looks different, it probably is. But it was only minor things. Things like adding in more of the cousins and stuff. Details, like I said.**

Chapter 7 Slugs, Cats, and Other Odd Things

Rose's POV

While Emmett and Albus practiced flying on the Hogwarts grounds, Rose was sitting at a table in the dungeons. The dungeons, generally dark and dreary, had been brightened up for the occasion. Slughorn had placed a large table in the middle of the room, and there were at least ten students seated at it. The only ones present that Rose recognized were James and Andromeda. The rest of the students were unfamiliar.

"Sit down, sit down," Slughorn called boisterously. As he stood and greeted the students, the lights in the room reflected off his bald head. "When everyone's here, we can all get acquainted."

Rose glanced around the table. She had already informed the professor that Albus was not coming. Most of the students were already here, and there were only two empty seats left.

"We are waiting for one more student," Slughorn announced immediately after Rose had made the very same observation. "I'm sure he will be here in-" he was interrupted by the sound of the dungeon door creaking open. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy, there you are. I'm glad you could make it."

Malfoy? Rose's head whipped around to see the blonde boy standing in the doorway. Scorpius smiled at Slughorn. "I'm glad to be here," he responded.

He's such a suck up, Rose thought. She wondered how he could go from the mean, frustrating boy she had met to the eager student he was pretending to be. Even though she had only met him a few times, she could easily tell that this side of him was fake, no matter how charismatic he may seem.

One of the two empty seats left was directly to her left. Rose knew Scorpius would pick that seat just to bother her. As Rose had suspected, he made his way to the chair beside her, smirking at her before he sat down. Thinking it over, Rose decided that she would rather have someone perform a jelly-legs jinx on her than to sit beside Scorpius Malfoy. But it was too late to move.

"Now, we may begin," Slughorn said. "As all of you know, I am Professor Slughorn, head of the noble house of Slytherin and potions teacher. Let's go around the table and introduce ourselves, shall we? Finch, you go first." He motioned to the boy sitting on his left.

"I'm Marcus Finch," the boy said. He was tall with dark hair, and she guessed he must be at least a sixth year. Her suspicions were confirmed when he said, "I'm in the sixth year. I'm the Slytherin boys' prefect."

"How's your aunt Agatha?" Slughorn asked. "Last I heard, she was named Journalist of the Year for the Daily Prophet."

"Yes sir. She's doing fine." Finch appeared puzzled about why Slughorn wanted to talk about his aunt. Rose, on the other hand, knew exactly what Slughorn was doing. Her mother had told Rose all about her school days. One of those stories had included the Slug Club (that was what Slughorn called this little club). Slughorn picked people with connections, people who had a chance to be great. He had a talent for it, and he kept his connections to these students over the years. To Rose, it seemed as if he was similar to the animal for which he was named. He stuck to his connections like a slug to a wall.

"You know, I taught Agatha in when she was at Hogwarts." Slughorn sounded proud, as if Agatha's success were all his doing.

"Yes sir," Finch said again.

"Do you see her often?" Slughorn asked. Finch shook his head in reply. Judging from Slughorn's expression at Finch's response, Rose would bet that Finch wouldn't be invited to the next Slug Club meeting. Slughorn gave him a cold smile and turned to the next one in line, Rose's cousin, Andromeda.

"I'm Andromeda Clarke," she smiled at Slughorn.

"This one is a marvelous witch," Slughorn said proudly of Andromeda. "This young lady has such a talent for potions. I haven't seen such talent since… well, since Harry Potter was at Hogwarts." Rose watched James slide down in his seat. He loved getting attention, but only for things he himself had done. James didn't like being recognized for his father's accomplishments.

"Your father," he said, turning to James, "was a talented wizard."

Rose refrained from mentioning that Harry was also related to both Andromeda and herself. James looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could; Slughorn was off to the next person. "Tell us about _your _father," he said to Hufflepuff boy sitting beside Andromeda.

Rose braced herself for a long dinner. The food came out, distributed by house elves. The little creatures had always fascinated Rose, and she watched them levitate the food onto the table as Slughorn continued his monologue about past students. Thanks to her mother's organization, the house elves were now paid for their services. And though they were allowed clothes now, many chose to continue wearing their old rags.

Rose's attention was immediately drawn back to the conversation when she heard Malfoy's name mentioned. "So you are familiar with Kaarina Delfiago, the lead singer of the Blue Boggarts?"

"Of course," Scorpius replied in a superior tone that Slughorn seemed to miss. "She is an old friend of my mother."

"Very nice, do you see her often?"

"We get back stage passes to their concerts for free. Sometimes, Grigory and Carmichael are there, too." He named two wizards that were prominent in wizard politics. Rose rolled her eyes as they continued back and forth, dropping names all the while.

Albus' POV

"Walk faster, mate," Emmett said to Albus, looking around sneakily.

Albus laughed. "The key to not getting caught is to look like you're doing nothing wrong," Albus informed his friend.

"Oh, well…" Emmett straightened up and tried to look more unobtrusive, but he couldn't help glancing around to see if anyone was watching. "Is this better, Al?"

"Not quite," Albus tried and failed to smother another laugh. Emmett looked just as guilty as he had a second ago. "It was your idea to steal the broom," he said. "Why do look like you're terrified?"

"I don't look terrified," Emmett said defensively. "Besides, what makes you think you know everything there is to know about not getting caught?"

"Not everything," Albus joked. "I'm a Potter," he said more seriously. "It comes naturally."

"Really? That's why you ended up in detention, isn't it Potter?" Emmett teased.

"Oh, stuff it Shacklebolt." Albus replied. The two boys were making their way past the Black Lake into the woods where no one would notice a couple of first years on brooms. They made sure to walk in the opposite direction of the Forbidden Forest which was home to many strange creatures. Now that Emmett had lightened up enough to walk normally, they moved stealthily out of sight of the castle.

Once they had made it to a clearing near the edge of the woods, Albus and Emmett stopped. "Okay, so I tried this earlier, and just like in the classes, all I could get it to do was lift a few feet off the ground," Emmett said.

"Try it again," Albus told him. He did so with no better results than the last time. "Alright then, give it to me."

Emmett handed the broom to the shorter kid and watched as Albus swung his leg over the broom. In seconds, Albus had the broom off of the ground hovering in the air. He flew around the clearing a few times before Emmett called him back down.

"I haven't been on a broom in forever," Albus said by way of apology. "But now we know that the broom isn't the problem. It's the rider." Emmett made a face at him.

"So what do I do?" Emmett asked.

"First of all, get back on it," Albus handed the broom back. "And second of all, don't look so scared." This comment was added because Emmett looked afraid that the broom would dump him off if he actually got off the ground. "That's probably part of your problem," Albus told him. "If you don't really want the broom to work, then it won't."

He watched as Emmett tried to erase the fearful look from his face. It took a minute, but eventually, he began to look slightly more comfortable on the broom. "Now, lift the broom off of the ground," Albus instructed. Emmett did as he was told. The broom lifted no more than a foot in the air, but already the scared look had returned. "Come on, Emmett, it's not scary. If you fell from right there, the worst that could happen would be if you got a bruise on your bum when you fell."

Emmett glared at his friend and urged the broom higher. "That's it," Albus grinned. "You can go higher than that, Emmett." He watched as Emmett coaxed his broom higher and higher off the ground. That was just the beginning. After having Emmett lift the broom off the ground, Albus told him to come back down. It took Emmett a few tries to keep from plummeting, but he managed it. By the time the boys had gotten this far, it was getting dark.

"We need to be heading back, Al," Emmett told him, the last time he touched down to the ground.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to fall anymore," Albus replied, but he gathered up the broom and they set off to return to their rooms before it got dark. Albus didn't want detention again, especially with Edgecombe. The first one was awkward enough.

They snuck into the field house where the old Hogwarts brooms were kept, and returned the stolen one. Then, Albus and Emmett made their way back to the castle. The sun was setting, and it was getting harder to see. Albus kept a sharp look out for Filch and Mrs. Norris. Mrs. Norris was Filch's cat. Considering that she had been around since Albus' parents had been at Hogwarts, one would think that the cat should have died by now. Or that an angry student would have killed her. Filch was a grumpy old squib, but it was Mrs. Norris you had to watch out for. She could summon Filch before you knew she was there. That was how Albus had been caught coming back from Hagrid's.

Emmett was leading, and Albus walked a little behind him. "What was that?" he stiffened as he thought he saw something.

"It's nothing, Al," Emmett replied. "You're jumping at shadows."

"I probably am," Albus said ruefully, "but I could have sworn that I saw something move out there."

"It's nothing," Emmett repeated. They were closer to the castle now, less than a hundred meters from the steps. While they were walking, the sky had gotten steadily darker, and it was getting hard to see. The boys walked quietly for another few meters before Albus jumped again.

All of the sudden, he was reminded of the ghost he had met the night before. Until then, he had forgotten about her completely. She had been so upset, freaking out because someone was coming. Who was coming? That was what Albus wanted to know. The dark setting now reminded him of what could be out there. He shook his head, trying to clear away these ridiculous notions. Hogwarts was the safest place on earth for young wizards. There was nothing to be afraid of.

He heard the noise again. This time, it was a soft mew. It sounded like a cat or a kitten. Albus saw Emmett stiffen too. "See," Albus whispered into the dark. "I'm not crazy. There really is something following us. I think it's a cat."

"It's not Mrs. Norris, is it?" Emmett whispered back, freezing in his tracks.

"I don't know," Al said. "But if it was Mrs. Norris, I'm pretty sure that Filch would be here by now, so I would venture a guess that it isn't."

"Then why is the cat following us?"

"How should I know?" Albus' whisper got louder. "Let's go into the castle and see if it follows us inside."

They hurried towards the castle, managing to make it in record time. Emmett slipped inside first, leaving Albus to close the door behind them. After closing the door, Al continued forward only to collide with Emmett who had stopped in the middle of the hallway. "What's wrong?" Albus asked, pushing him forward. He leaned around Emmett to find out what he was staring at. .

Standing in the middle of the corridor was a sleek jet-black cat. "Now that's just creepy," Albus said.

"You know, in some places, they consider cats bad luck," Emmett told him. "It seems like it would be bad luck if a black cat is stalking you, doesn't it?"

"Oh, don't be so superstitious," Albus scolded his friend. He leaned down to get a better look at the cat. It immediately strutted up to him, waving its tail in the air as it walked. The cat stopped right in front of Albus and looked up at him with intelligent eyes. "I take it back," Albus said staring back at the cat. "_That _is creepy."

"I don't know," Emmett relented. "The cat _is_ kind of cute." He reached down to pet it, and the cat purred and pushed closer to him.

"Maybe a little bit," Albus consented. He followed Emmett's lead and reached down to stroke the cat.

Rose's POV

Rose and Melody were sitting in the common room. Melody was having trouble with her History of Magic essay, and Rose was more than happy to help. They were almost done, and had stopped for a break.

How was the Slug Club meeting?" Melody asked curiously.

"Agonizing," Rose replied.

"It couldn't have been that bad," Melody said. She didn't want to admit it, but she wanted to go to one of the Slug Club meetings. She was curious as to how Slughorn treated his elite group of students.

"Maybe not that bad," Rose said. "But it wasn't fun. It was mainly boring, actually. Slughorn only wanted to discuss his former students." She frowned as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. "And Malfoy was there."

"Scorpius Malfoy?" Melody asked. "Isn't he a Slytherin?"

"Ye-" Rose started to reply, but was cut off when the portal door slid open, revealing two very late boys.

"Sorry we're late," Emmett said. "Mind if we come join the party?"

Rose started to reprimand them for coming back after curfew, but was distracted by a movement in Albus' cloak. "What is that?" she asked.

Albus and Emmett exchanged a glance. Turning back to the girls, Albus smiled. "We have a cat."

**I thought it was kinda cute to make the boys softies for the cat, but that may just be me. :) Please review!**


	8. Breakfast

**I was bored, so I decided to work on another chapter. And Celi, thanks for pointing out the thing about Melody. I fixed it; she is now a Gryffindor. This is just kind of a random chapter, explaining a few things and giving more insight into the characters.**

Chapter 8 Breakfast

Albus' POV

"Albus Potter, will you please get this cat off of me?" Erik called across the room. Lifting his head from his pillow, Albus reached to the table beside the bed for his glasses. When he could see, he looked over to Erik's bed and saw that the cat was lying on Erik's stomach. Erik was trying to move, but every time he did, the cat would hiss at him. Albus laughed but made no move to help the older boy.

"Albus!" Erik called louder. "Fine, don't get up." He decided to change tactics and yelled for Emmett instead. "Emmett! Come get your stupid cat!"

"You don't have to talk so loud!" James' muffled voice came from under his pillow. "It's hard for a bloke to get any sleep with all this noise."

Albus glanced to where Emmett lay on the bed beside his. The dark skinned boy was dead to the world. The only way to wake Emmett up was to shake him. Albus knew this from experience because he had done it before to keep Emmett from being late to class more than once.

Erik's complaints didn't stop, and now that they were joined by James', Albus knew he wasn't going to get much sleep if he didn't get the cat. So he got up. Erik was still trying to move the cat. He tried to turn over, but the cat dug its claws into his shirt. Albus reached down and picked up the protesting cat easily. Once in his arms, the cat quieted.

"Was that really so hard?" Albus asked, going to sit on his bed with it in his arms.

"Yes!" Erik complained. "That _thing _tried to claw me to death."

"Don't call him a thing," Albus was affronted. This was met by a muttered, "whatever," from Erik. He had managed to turn over now that the cat was gone and had fallen back asleep. Checking the clock, Albus sighed. It was still dark out, and this was way too early to be awake. But once he had woken up, he couldn't get back to sleep.

Hearing a sound from the table beside his bed, Albus turned to look. The noise Erik made had bothered more than just James and himself. Albus' owl was also stirring. Putting down the cat, he went over to comfort the owl.

"Loki, it's okay," he assured her. "Shush girl." Loki was anxious to get out of her cage. Albus hadn't let her out as much since they had gotten to Hogwarts; he had been too distracted with other things. But now he saw that Loki was hungry and ready to hunt. Albus quietly unlocked her cage and pulled the small door open. Smiling at his bird, he stepped back as she climbed out.

Loki had belonged to Albus for two years and the two almost always got along, but there were rules to be observed. When she was in a mood, the spotted owl could be temperamental. She deserved the name he had given her, for she was a trickster at heart. Right now, Albus could tell that if she didn't get food soon, his bird would be in a mood. He went to the window and opened it to let her out. She hopped from the desk to the sill and spread her wings. Then, she soared out of the widow across the courtyard.

Watching her fly across the grounds, Albus longed to have his broom with him so he could fly too. He wanted to feel the wind sail past him as he flew higher and gained speed. Shaking his head, he cleared these thoughts from his mind. Being able to fly was all well and good, but he had more important things to do than dream.

For some reason, Albus couldn't help these fantasies that popped into his head at the oddest moments. He was constantly being called a dreamer by his family and teachers. He saw nothing wrong with being a dreamer, but they said it as if it were a bad thing. All except Uncle George. His uncle encouraged him to dream. George told Al that when he and his twin brother Fred were little, they had dreamed of owning a joke shop, a shop designed especially to make people laugh. They had succeeded and so could he, but for now, he resigned himself to schoolwork and other more mundane things.

After all of this thinking, Albus found he was quite hungry. He dressed in his school robes and let himself quietly out of his room. He started to close the door but was distracted by a meow from the cat. He turned to see the little black animal staring up at him.

"All right, you can come too," Albus told the cat. He realized that saying this was unnecessary because the cat would have followed him anyway. It had a disconcerting tendency to show up at the most random times.

The cat trailed no more than a few steps behind him as he made his way to the Great Hall. He saw only one student in the Gryffindor common room. The boy was scribbling madly, obviously trying to finish a late essay. He continued past the boy and slipped out of the portrait hole. The corridors were deserted this time of day. It wasn't until he made it to the great hall that he began to see signs of life.

Albus had never been to the great hall this early. Neither had he seen this few people there. There were less than a dozen people scattered throughout the room. Leaning against the wall, he studied the people seated at the four tables. At each of the areas where students were sitting, the table was covered in food. It amazed Albus how house elf magic worked.

The Gryffindor table had only one student seated at it, his cousin Rose. At first glance, Rose appeared to be studying the book propped on the table in front of her. Watching her, Albus noticed that every few minutes, she dropped the pretence and sent glares across the room to the Slytherin table. Her glares were aimed directly at the Malfoy boy. What she didn't notice was that when she looked down, he would send them back. They continued this behavior as Albus watched. He would have found it comical if he hadn't disliked Malfoy so much.

Unhitching himself from the wall, Albus went to sit down beside his cousin. "Hey, Rosie," he said. As he sat down, more food appeared in front of him.

She looked up from her textbook. "You of all people should know better than to call me that." He should, but he couldn't resist. Once when they were little, Rose had gotten mad at him for saying that and he had ended up in a pond. But Rose hadn't touched him. Her parents were so proud that her magic was beginning to show itself that she hadn't been punished.

"So what's the deal with you and Malfoy?" he asked reaching for a plate and piling it high with food.

"He's annoying."

Albus frowned. "But you've only met him three times," he pointed out through a mouthful of food.

Rose glared at Albus. She was the logical one, and she did not appreciate her cousin pointing out flaws in her logic. "That's all it takes. Don't pretend like you don't agree, Al."

"Malfoy is bad news," he agreed. "You know what, I don't really want to know what he did that bothers you so much. But if he does it again, tell me. I'll take care of it."

"Nice of you to be all protective Al, but I don't need your protection." Albus wanted to protest, but he knew Rose well enough to realize that protesting would get him nowhere. She was probably right after all. If it came to a magical fight, she would do better than Albus would, and if it was a physical one, she knew how to throw a punch as well as any boy.

When he looked back at her, he realized that Rose was no longer paying attention. Her gaze was focused on the ground beside him. Turning to see what she was looking at, Albus saw his cat. "When did the cat get here?" Rose asked.

"He's been here the whole time," Albus told her. "He follows me around."

"Really?" Rose asked. "Why does it follow _you_ around? Why not Emmett?"

"First of all, _he _is not an it," Albus told her. "And he follows Emmett around sometimes too."

"Well, does _he _have a name?" Rose emphasized the word to make fun of her cousin.

"No, actually, he doesn't." Albus and Emmett could not agree on a name for him, so they continued to call him the cat.

"How about Blackie?" Rose suggested.

Albus gave her an incredulous look. "You're not serious, are you?"

"Okay then, how about Shadow? You said he follows you around. He is black, so he blends in like a shadow."

"That's not much better than Blackie," Albus told her. The cat was a boy after all, and it didn't need a sissy name.

"I'm trying to help you, Al. If you don't want my ideas then don't ask for them." He was about to tell her he hadn't asked for them, when he saw something that distracted him. He saw the ghost of the girl from Ravenclaw. She wasn't crying the way she had been when he had last seen her. Instead, the ghost was staring vacantly into space as she floated over the Great Hall.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, interrupting his train of thought. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "That's because I did," he told her. He motioned to the ghost that was still staring into space.

"It's just a figure of speech, Al," she snapped.

"A _muggle _figure of speech," retorted Albus. Rose used muggle sayings every now and then; it was something she had picked up from her mother.

Rose was not about to be deterred so easily. "What's wrong, Albus?" she repeated.

"It's nothing," he told her.

"Don't give me that load of poppycock, Albus Severus Potter," Rose said. "Tell me what's bothering you."

"You sound like my mom when you say that," was all he said.

"Hello, Albus. Rose," they looked up to see their cousin Fred. He sat down beside them, and reached across Albus for a plate of food. Albus looked down at his own food which had begun to grow cold.

"Hello Fred," Rose replied. Fred was their Uncle George and Aunt Angelina's son. He was a third year, and Rose and Albus didn't see much of him.

The room began to fill up with people who gathered around the tables with their plates. Albus and Fred struck up a conversation as Rose went back to studying. Albus thought it was funny that she had forgotten all about Scorpius now. When breakfast was almost over, Albus thought he was going to get away without an interrogation. Just as he started to get up, Rose leaned over to him and said, "I still expect you to tell me exactly what is bothering you."

Oh, great. He sighed. Now he had to explain to her about the insane ghost that warned him someone was coming. He wondered if someone really was coming or if the ghost was just traumatized and freaking out. There was one way to find out, and he was going to need Rose's help to do it.


	9. Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff

**I wrote most of this at two in the morning when I couldn't sleep, so please excuse me if anything is confusing or whatever. I also didn't proofread it that well, so I didn't take much time to check grammar and spelling like I usually try to. **

**Also, this chapter is about Quidditch, and I am not going to explain in here how Quidditch works or what the positions and balls do because if you are reading this, you should already know. **

Chapter 9 Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff

Albus' POV

Albus was woken early Saturday morning by the sound of groans. Thankfully, from what he could tell, they were not aimed at him. Deciding to ignore them, he turned over to go back to sleep. Trying to fall back into unconsciousness, Albus rolled over onto his stomach. Then he realized that in between the loud groans came retching noises. He shot bolt upright in his bed. Reaching for his glasses, he searched for the cause of the noise, only to find that the noises were coming from his older brother.

"James, are you okay?" he asked without thinking.

"Do I look bloody well okay?" James demanded, groaning again. He bent over to retch again, but it looked as if he had already emptied the contents of his stomach.

"Are you-?" Albus started to ask before thinking better of it. It had just occurred to him that today was the first Quidditch match of the season, and James' problems most likely stemmed from nerves. "Do you think you'll be fine getting to the Great Hall by yourself or do you need help?"

James scowled at his brother's concern. "I'm nervous, Al. I'm not dying."

Albus scowled back. James obviously wasn't too nervous if he could still show this much vigor in verbal sparring. Albus sent his brother downstairs to get some food; he was surprised when James actually listened.

His mind wandered from the subject of his brother for the moment to the ghost. He had told Rose all about her yesterday, and about her cryptic warnings. Rose had agreed with him that the only solution lay in finding out who the ghost was talking about. They now had a plan; all they had to do was implement it.

Looking back at the mess on the floor beside James' bed, Albus frowned. Just like James, he thought, to leave him to deal with the mess. He eyed the floor that James had puked on distastefully. It was disgusting, and now he had to go find a house elf willing to clean it up.

Rose's POV

"You've got to eat _some _breakfast."

"I don't want anything."

"Just a little bit of toast?" Rose wheedled.

"I'm not hungry."

Rose was trying and failing to convince her cousin to eat. The rest of the team was also gathered at the table, nervously stuffing their faces with food. Rose's other cousin, Fred, was among them. He was one of the three chasers on the team, and he appeared to have no trouble stomaching food. James still looked a little green. Molly and Lucy, their Uncle Percy's daughters, had already tried and failed to convince James to eat, too.

Rose had more important things to do than babysit her cousin, such as find out more about Albus' ghost. But for now, she resigned herself to trying to feed James. While Rose wasn't one to give up easily, she was about to do just that. Then, a blessing came in the form of a second-year girl. "Elise!" Rose called, hurrying over to the girl.

"Hello, Rose," Elise said pleasantly, making her way towards the table Rose had just vacated.

"Wait a minute," Rose told the other girl. Elise stopped and turned to face her. "You know the big game's today," Rose began. Elise's brow furrowed as she tried to figure out where Rose was going with this. "It's James' first game and, well… He won't eat anything. And I thought that maybe you could convince him to."

"Why would he listen to me?" Elise asked, still confused. Oh, Rose sighed. Apparently, Elise couldn't tell that James' teasing was his way of showing that he liked her. But then again, Rose added, she doubted that James himself was completely aware of that yet. He was, after all, only twelve.

"I couldn't convince him to," Rose said honestly, "But I think he might listen to some one his own age." She failed to mention that he hadn't listened to Lucy who was only a few months older than him, even if she was a third-year.

Elise still appeared slightly puzzled at why Rose wanted her to do this, but she consented to give it a try. Rose watched as a devious smile slid over the older girl's face. "I know just what to do," she grinned. "He won't know what hit him."

The girls went back to their table and sat beside James, Elise sitting slightly too close. "Hello, Jamesy!" she said cheerfully, casually putting her arm around his shoulders. Both James and Rose looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Elise had always made it a point to stay away from James, not vice versa.

Removing her arm, Elise busied herself by piling food on her plate. "Good luck with the game today, James. I know you're going to do great." This comment only caused him to look at her askance. Physical contact _and _compliments, he began to wonder if the girl was loosing her sanity. In the two years he had known her, she had always treated his teasing with a detached dislike.

Elise held up a piece of toast. Before taking a bite out of it, she coated it with jam and said. "Oh, this is delicious." Holding up the same slice of toast she had just bitten off of, she held it out to James. "James, would you like a bite?"

Ew, Rose thought, before wondering if Elise actually did know that James liked her. It was quite obvious by the way his gaze was flicking back and forth from her mouth to the piece of toast. Elise definitely had him off guard; usually by now, he would have come up with a funny retort. James cleared his throat. "Uhm, no thanks." He picked a piece of toast up off of her plate. "I've got my own."

From behind him, Rose sent Elise a thumbs-up. She could tell that Elise was enjoying teasing James for once, instead of being teased.

Albus' POV

Albus was sitting with Emmett, Melody, and Rose in the Gryffindor section of the Quidditch stands. At a quarter till eleven, James had set off for the lockers with the rest of the Gryffindor team, leaving the rest of the school to make their way to the stands in mass. And by eleven o'clock, the whole school seemed to be crowded into the stands.

It was a cool, clear day, seemingly perfect weather for a Quidditch game. The only problem was the heavy gales of wind that could knock someone off of their broom if they weren't careful. Neither team appeared worried by that fact; they had all flown in worse weather before.

"Here come the Gryffindors!" announced a Hufflepuff boy Albus recognized from around school. "There's seeker Tamera Bennett. Flying behind her are chasers Ross, Weasley, and Harris. Next, comes new beater James Potter." The boy's voice into the megaphone that was spelled to carry over the crowd was now drowned out by the Gryffindors cheering for Potter. James seemed to loose his nerves because he waved his beater's stick and took a bow from his spot on the field. "Then returning beater, Beckham, and finally keeper and captain, Caroline Harper." Caroline also got a loud cheer from the Gryffindors while the Slytherin and Hufflepuff students both booed. Hufflepuff booed because they wanted to win; Slytherin because they wanted Gryffindor to lose.

"And here are the Hufflepuffs!" the boy shouted as he proceeded to introduce the Hufflepuff team, his team, at length. Ocheng, Watts, Winslow, Smith, Stewart, Long and Meyers got a much longer introduction than the Gryffindors had.

"TRUMAN PALMER, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO ANNOUNCE THEM, NOT GIVE THEIR LIFE STORY!"

Albus could see that Palmer only turned to smirk at the teacher that had yelled into his megaphone. "Calm down, Professor," he called before turning back to the field. "Looks like this might be a tough game," he announced as Madame Montglove strode onto the field with the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch all in their case under her arm.

"Captains, shake hands." He saw Caroline Harper reach forward to shake Amari Ocheng, the Hufflepuff captain's, hand. "Mount your brooms please." Montglove gave a loud blast on her silver whistle and the game began.

"And Hufflepuff has possession. It's Smith with the Quaffle heading towards the Gryffindor goalposts. No! Quaffle intercepted by Fred Weasley of Gryffindor. Whoa, Bludger hurtling straight for him, hit by Watts. Ah, here comes the famous Potter boy to save the day. Potter just barely hits the Bludger before it hits his chaser. Weasley is getting closer and closer- almost to the goal posts, get ready Winslow! Weasley takes a shot and- YES! Great save by Winslow! Oh, no. Gryffindors other chaser Ross has managed to get possession of the ball. He swerves around Stewart- right in front of the goal posts now!"

Albus was only halfway listening to Palmer. He really didn't care what the Hufflepuff had to say, but he was willing Ross to make it along with the rest of the Gryffindors. He watched as the chasers from both teams crowded around the goal posts, waiting for Ross to take his shot.

"And Ross lines up the shot- WHAM! Out of nowhere, Potter's Bludger comes smashing through the Hufflepuff chasers! Watts is holding his arm; he was hit. And… I DON'T BELIEVE IT! Potter's Bludger gave Ross time to make the shot. Ten-zero Gryffindor."

Albus and Rose along with the other scarlet-robed fans were cheering like mad. James did as much of a victory dance as he could while on a broom. The score gave Hufflepuff back the ball and they began to fly it back up the field. The Snitch hadn't been spotted yet, so neither Bennett nor Meyers had much to do.

When Palmer decided to comment on this, he was cut off as Tamera Bennett suddenly lurched forward on her broom. "Bennett must have spotted something!" Palmer stated the obvious. "She was off like a shot. Meyers is following, catching up, now only meters behind. He's almost got her, but he has yet to see the Snitch. Matter of fact, I have yet to see the Snitch. I wonder what it is she's after."

Despite the commentator's jokes, Tamera did know what she was after, and it just so happened to be the Snitch. Albus could see the gold ball zoom through the air only meters in front of the seeker. She almost had it; Tamera leaned forward on her broom to reach it, and almost flipped the broom over.

"The Snitch is so close, but so far away," joked Palmer. "I think that Bennett needs a new broom. What is that she's riding on anyway, a Cleansweep Eleven?" While it was true that Tamera's broom was old, that was only because it was school-issue. Palmer's jokes weren't very funny to the Gryffindors who had begun to boo him. Anyone watching the field would have seen that Seth Beckham, the other Gryffindor beater, had gotten hold of a Bludger. Palmer was too busy making jokes about the Gryffindors to notice that Seth was taking precise aim at his target before whacking the Bludger as hard as he could.

"And Smith is still in possession of the ball," Palmer continued. "Ben-" He cut off immediately as he saw the Bludger headed in his direction. The whole stadium could hear him yell as he barely ducked in time to avoid getting decapitated. While everyone had been eying the Bludger, James had flown around behind Palmer and now, he took aim at Smith.

He hit the ball hard enough to send him spinning toward the crowd, barely catching himself before he landed on a few Ravenclaws. The Bludger got to Smith before the Hufflepuff beaters could block it with their own bats. "Gryffindor chaser Harris has recovered the Quaffle. He's making a break for the goal posts while the others are distracted- what is that?" They all saw Tamera and Meyers go streaking by. They both had the Snitch in their sights, and now it was a race to see who got there first.

"Yes! Ocheng has stolen the ball from Harris and is almost to the Gryffindor goal posts. He's getting closer. Harper is a tough keeper, but Ocheng is a great scorer. They are captains for a reason. Ocheng gets ready for the shot- he throws and… it's a miss. But wait, he's recovered the ball! Come on Ocheng, YOU CAN DO IT! He shoots- HE SCORES! It's tied ten to ten."

"Wait, Bennett and Meyers are _still _after that pesky Snitch. Bennett is pulling ahead of Meyers. She's almost got it. Meyers, come on! Bennett's broom has tipped again, but she's still on. Wait a second, no she's not. Bennett is falling!"

When she leaned forward to get the Snitch, Tamera had tipped her broom slightly too far. Luckily, she hadn't been very far from the ground when she fell. "HOLY… sorry Professor, but I can't believe it! Tamera Bennett has the Snitch! Gryffindor wins. One hundred sixty to ten."

The Gryffindor fans went crazy. Many rushed out onto the field to grab the team and lift them up into the air. Albus felt himself being pushed along with the crowd as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room with the team in tow. He had lost sight of Rose and Emmett along the way, and for now he was content to allow himself to be lost in the crowd.

When they made it back to the common room, Albus caught sight of his brother standing in a chair with fans gathered around him, while they relived the highlights of the game. Albus shook his head. This was James' element, what he enjoyed. Albus knew that was where he and his brother were different. While James loved the spotlight, Albus didn't. Albus preferred to watch the events take place rather than make them happen.

"Good job, James!" he called to his brother as he passed by. James spared him a grin before continuing with his previous conversation.

"Wait a second," he said to the group of first through third year girls that had gathered around him. He caught up with Albus who was heading to their room for a quick reprieve from the shouting.

"James, you should be celebrating," Albus told him. "Congrats on winning your first game."

"Al, I just wanted to tell you that I…I appreciate what you did for me this morning," he smiled at his brother ruefully. "I know I'm not that great a brother, but I do appreciate that you…" he trailed off as they entered their room. "What the-?"

Albus turned to figure out what had his brother so distracted. He didn't like what he found. The five boy's belongings had been scattered about the room, and their beds were unmade with clothes strewn everywhere. "Who could have done this?" James searched through the wreckage for some sign of the perpetrator. Albus wandered to his bed to see if anything was taken. Then he froze.

"Al, James why are you up here?" Rose's voice came from the doorway. She and Emmett had come to check on the brothers. As she took a step inside the doorway, she gasped.

"I'm going to report this to McGonagall," James said, pushing his way out of the room. That left Emmett, Rose, and Albus alone.

"Al…" Rose said tentatively, realizing that he hadn't moved. "What is it?"

Wordlessly, Albus pointed to a slip of paper lying on his bed. Rose picked it up and read it, only to drop it back on the floor. "What's wrong?" Emmett demanded, grabbing up the paper.

On the paper, there were two words;

_She's coming._

"Who's coming?" Emmett asked, wondering why the words scared his friends.

"Should we tell him?" Rose asked.

"I don't think we have a choice."


	10. Ingredients

**I don't think I've said this yet, so thanks much to all of the people who reviewed and stuff! I appreciate it, and I hope you continue to like it! This chapter is a little shorter, but just a little. **

Albus' POV

"I don't know about this," said Emmett. The first-years were sitting in the Gryffindor common room later that night. Albus and Rose had just finished telling Emmett about the ghost. "What if she's just crazy and we're making a big deal about nothing?"

"That's what I thought at first, but this," Albus held up the piece of paper they had found in his room. "This says otherwise."

"Not really. She could still be insane and has started leaving notes to let people know."

I just have this feeling that whatever she's talking about is important," Albus told them for at least the fourth time. "It's weird, but I just know it."

"Don't go all creepy vision-boy on us now, Al," Emmett joked. But the look he gave Albus was completely serious.

"It's not like that," Albus protested. "It's just a feeling." He turned to Rose and said, "It is kind of like that time Lily broke her arm and I knew even though she was at your house."

"You did? That is kind of creepy, Albus. Wait, you and Lily aren't twins or anything, right?" Emmett looked slightly alarmed by this piece of news.

"No, they're not," Rose told him. "Lily is a year younger. She jumped off of her broom and tried to land standing up. Needless to say, that didn't turn out so well. My mum was fixing it when Aunt Ginny appeared in the fireplace frantically asking how Lily had broken her arm. It was creepy because Mum hadn't told them yet."

"She appeared in the fireplace?" asked Emmett

"Yes, she used Floo powder," Albus put in. Emmett gave him a blank look. "No offense intended, but you have a spotty education when it comes to the wizarding world. Floo powder allows you to travel somewhere through the Floo Network in a fireplace."

"We're getting off topic," Rose reminded them.

"We have to find out more about this ghost," Emmett said. "We have to find out if she's credible."

"My thoughts exactly." Albus pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Rose and I know of a potion that will help us."

"Really?" Emmett asked. "What potion is that?"

"Well, I can't recall the name of it, but we heard about it from my dad when he had this case where-"

"It's called Videre de Mortis," Rose put in. "It's Latin. Literally, it translates into to see of death. The potion lets a witch or a wizard see a ghost's murderer. As an Auror, Uncle Harry had to use it to catch criminals. It's kind of like when the muggle police try to find a killer. The potion would help them identify the perpetrator."

"That sounds promising. So how do we get the ingredients?"

"From the potions classroom, of course." She said it so matter-of-factly that at first her meaning didn't sink in. Rose had been told by many people that she was a lot like her mother. One way they differed was that Rose didn't mind breaking the rules.

"You mean we steal them?"

"That is exactly what I mean." And so began their plan. Out of the three, Albus was chosen to steal the needed supplies from Slughorn's classroom. He was assigned this job because he was most likely to be forgiven if caught.

"From what I've read, the potion itself is quite easy to make. Finding the ingredients is going to be the hard part."

"Why? If they're just in Slughorn's office…"

"If the book is in the restricted section," Rose informed them. "It's there for a reason. All of the ingredients may not be in Slughorn's office."

Their plan was that Rose would supply the book containing the recipe for the potion. She planned to get a note from a professor in case the book was in the restricted section. Emmett was given the task of trying to talk to their resident ghost.

"Why do I get that job?" he asked. "It's Al's ghost."

"Well, I already have a job," Albus pointed out.

"I would rather have your job," Emmett protested. Albus knew that, being new to the wizarding world, Emmett was uncomfortable with ghosts, talking pictures, and other such things. Albus had faith that his friend would get used to these things sooner or later. This would help him do it that much sooner.

"Maybe next time," was all he said.

Rose's POV

The next day, Rose went about her job. She searched methodically through the library for any mention of Videre de Mortis, but found no mention of it in any texts. By afternoon, she decided that the book must be in the restricted section.

Rose was a good student, and all of her teachers liked her. So it was quite easy to convince one to sign her slip. Professor Montague was happy to sign it. He didn't even question her about which book she wanted.

"Did you get it?" asked Albus. He and Emmett were waiting outside the classroom.

"Yes." They made their way back to the library, placing their things at an empty table in a secluded corner.

Leaving the two boys to find something to entertain themselves, Rose made her way to the librarian's desk. Madame Blair, the librarian, looked down her nose at the girl. Ignoring the older woman's imperious glare, Rose explained that she needed to search the restricted section for a book for Professor Montague. At first, the woman was reluctant to believe her. Rose showed her the note, and set about winning Madame Blair over. Soon enough, she warmed up to Rose. Rose's cheerful, know-it-all nature might have had some effect on the woman, being a scholar herself.

When Rose came back with two leather-bound books in tow, she found the boys arguing animatedly. As she got closer, she could see what they were arguing over. In between them, on the table was a wizard's chess set.

"You don't touch the pieces," Albus was saying as she seated herself at the table. "You tell them where you want them to go. Like this," he proceeded to demonstrate. "Knight to D5."

"Oh," Emmett said. The group watched as Albus' knight destroyed one of Emmett's pawns.

"I think I found something." Rose interrupted their game.

"Already?" Emmett asked. He glanced around the big room filled with books, tables, and students. "You really are a genius. I can't make heads or tales of this place. Libraries give me the creeps."

"I'm not a genius," Rose chose to address the first part of his sentence rather than the last. "I just know the system. The books are shelved by…" she trailed off, realizing that the boys were no longer listening. "I just spend a lot of time here."

"We never would have noticed," Albus said dryly.

"Sometimes, it comes in handy," she pointed out. "This," she held up the larger of the two books, "may be the answer to our dilemma." She flipped through the book, stopping once she found the page she had marked. "Listen to this. Videre de Mortis was created in the late nineteen hundreds by Adelbert Adams. It is used to help discover the murderer of a particular ghost. Ingredients include…" She looked up and met Albus' eyes.

"Sounds like what we're looking for," he agreed. "What are the ingredients?"

"Erumpent tails, boomslang skin, vinegar, moondew, eel's eyes. Most of it is simple, really." Rose jotted the ingredients down as she spoke. "The eel's eyes will be difficult because they must be distilled." Her brows knit and she stopped.

"What's wrong?" Emmett asked.

"The recipe calls for a bulb of Phaedranassa."

"What is that?" Neither of the boys had ever heard of the root, but Rose had.

"It's a flower that grows in South America. It is sometimes made into a paste that is used to create hallucinations or to recreate memories."

"Okay…" Emmett and Albus still did not seem to know what the problem was.

"It _only _grows there. It wouldn't be on hand at Hogwarts."

"Oh," Emmett said glumly. Rose guessed that he had been looking forward to his first ever wizarding adventure.

"The Phaedranassa bulb isn't needed until the end of the recipe. We should start anyway, and we might just get lucky and get our hands on one." Rose could tell that Albus was determined to see this through.

"We can try," Rose said doubtfully. She was willing to go along with it for her cousin's sake. "Albus, you need to get the ingredients by tommow if we are to have this done anytime soon. We have to distill the eel's eyes before we can add them."

"Tomorrow it is," Albus nodded resolutely.

Albus' POV

The Gryffindors had potions the very next day. After this class was when Albus planned to make his move. He fidgeted anxiously throughout the lesson, paying almost no attention to Slughorn's lecture on safety in potion making. He was obligated to give this speech because last year, one of his students had set the dungeons on fire with her potion.

Albus didn't notice the worried glances Emmett was sending. He also didn't notice Rose raising her hand to answer Slughorn's questions. When the class was finally over, he trudged out of the room behind the others. He loitered outside the door, waiting for Slughorn to disappear into his office as he usually did after the students left.

His patience was soon rewarded when Slughorn took a stack of parchment into his office and shut the door behind him. Albus pulled Rose's list of ingredients out of his robes. "Here goes nothing," he said quietly to himself before hurrying into the room.


	11. Ghosts and Weasleys

Chapter 11 Ghosts and Weasleys

Rose's POV

"She won't talk to me," James complained to the boy sitting next to him.

"Who?" Erik had been out of it enough to completely miss James' previous statement. Rose, on the other hand, couldn't help but hear her cousin. She was sitting right next to him at the Gryffindor table at breakfast.

"Who do you think, idiot?"

Comprehension dawned on Erik. "Oh, you meant Elise. Why does that bother you? It's not like she's ever talked to you before."

The object of their conversation was sitting at the other end of the table, just out of earshot. Looking at her, Rose saw that Elise was eating her breakfast and chatting cheerfully with two other Gryffindor girls. She seemed oblivious to the stares of the two boys and Rose.

After her revenge on James, Elise had gone back to her usual habit of ignoring him. Rose half wanted to tell her cousin that it was her fault Elise had talked to him in the first place, but the other half of her wanted to let him hope Elise would acknowledge him. This was the half that won out. She didn't say anything.

"It's just that-"

"Hey Rose!" Rose's attention was drawn away from the second-years' conversation when Emmett called her name. She turned to face him as he seated himself beside her. "Have you seen Al?"

"Not this morning. He's probably still asleep in your room." Though he sometimes woke up early, Albus generally slept late. Most of the time, his brother did too, but today must have been an exception for James.

"Probably," Emmett agreed. "I wanted to tell you two that I talked to Albus' ghost."

"You did? What did she say?"

"Well, at first she was reluctant to say anything. She seems really freaked over whatever she thinks is after us."

"She _thinks_? So you still don't believe that she's actually on to something?" Rose asked. Truthfully, she didn't know whether to believe it either, but Albus had an annoying habit of being right about these sorts of things.

"Excuse my disbelief." Emmett replied. "Anyway, she told me a little about herself when she wasn't freaking out."

"Well…?"

"First of all, her name is… was Heather Keynes. She died during the Battle of Hogwarts."

The Battle of Hogwarts was the last battle of the War. It happened here, at the beloved wizarding school, that Harry Potter had defeated the Dark Lord. The battle had been long and the death rate high.

"Did she say who killed her?"

"Killed who?" interjected Fred before Emmett could answer. He was sitting directly across the table from Emmett. "Rosie, have you been naughty?"

Rose hated when people called her Rosie as Fred knew very well. "I believe that this conversation was none of your business, _Freddie._"

"Is it offensive to be concerned for my wee little cousin?" Fred queried, holding his hand to his chest in mock hurt.

"Not if you were actually concerned." Rose stated. "But you, my dear cousin, are just being nosy." Before Fred could think of a snappy comeback, she continued. "Don't you have brain cells to be losing?" she baited.

"Don't you have books to be reading?" Fred retorted.

"You're insufferable, you know that?" She sighed in annoyance.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Fred smirked. When they were younger, Fred was constantly doing stupid things. Or things Rose considered stupid anyway. He had pulled numerous pranks on her, Albus, Hugo, and even James. If he and James ever decided to team up, it might be the death of her.

"Come on, Emmett." Rose got up from her seat, pulling her fellow first year up after her. They went to talk in the library where there were fewer disturbances and fewer Weasleys.

"So did you find out who the killer was?" Rose inquired as soon as they sat down.

"You know you have a strange family, don't you?" Emmett asked. "No offense intended of course."

"None taken. I believe it is a well known fact that the Weasleys are a strange bunch." She had been to enough family gatherings to know this fact well. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"Yes," he said.

"Yes, she told you her killer? That's great!" Rose exclaimed. If the ghost told them her killer, there would be no need to make that complicated potion.

"Wait, no."

"No what? Did she tell you or didn't she?" Rose asked. "It really wasn't that hard of a question, Emmett."

"No, she didn't tell me."

"Then why did you say yes?" Rose was thoroughly confused.

"You asked me if I was going to answer you. So I said yes, but the answer to your question is no. She didn't tell me." Emmett looked as confused as she felt.

"Okay. So let me get this straight. She didn't tell you who killed her?" Rose asked, trying to clear everything up.

"That would be correct." Emmett agreed.

"So we still have to make the potion?" Rose wanted to know. "It's a good thing we made Al go ahead and get those ingredients. We can start on the potion tomorrow.

Albus' POV

When his lessons were over, Albus made a beeline for the Gryffindor common room. He was one of the first to get there, and he claimed a group of chairs near the fire. Settling down to wait, he pulled out his DADA homework and began on it.

He was interrupted a few moments later by a voice. "What are you doing?"

He looked up to see his cousin Rose sitting in the seat across from him. "Defense Against the Dark Arts homework." Rose made a face and he guessed that she had already finished with it. "Would you care to help?"

She made another face. "Not particularly. I wanted to go see Hagrid. I haven't been to see him since school started."

"Then by all means, go see Hagrid," Albus replied. He went back to his work.

Rose exhaled a put-upon sigh. "I want you to go with me, Al."

"But I'm busy," he replied. Rose widened her eyes and put on her best puppy dog face. Albus quickly caved. "Fine. I'll go with you."

Shoving his things back into his bag, Albus followed his cousin out of the portrait hole. Out of nowhere, the cat appeared to follow him. It was like a shadow to Albus, and he had begun to hardly even noticed the animal.

The cat also had an annoying habit of walking almost under Albus' feet. On their way down a flight of stairs, Albus tripped over it and bumped into someone, almost knocking himself and the other boy over. "Sorry, mate." He apologized.

"I'm fine," the Hufflepuff boy assured him.

Meeting his eyes, Albus recognized the boy. They had met on the train with Emmett. What was his name? Bill, Bobby… "Ben!"

"Albus." Ben replied. Ben and Rose also exchanged their hellos.

"How has your experience with the wizarding world been so far, Ben?" Rose asked curiously.

Ben grinned. "It's been amazing. There's this whole other world I never knew existed. What's not to love?"

Albus felt that if they hadn't agreed, he and Rose probably would have found this notion funny. "It is amazing," Rose agreed cheerfully. "Being raised in wizarding houses, we take magic for granted sometimes."

"Well that's one thing I'm never going to do," Ben said. "Oh, and nice cat by the way." He motioned to the cat whose tail was curled around Albus' feet.

"Thanks." Albus replied. "See you later." And they were again on their way.

**This one is a bit shorter, but that's because I want to pick up at the same spot in the next chapter. And is anyone actually reading this story? Because so far, it's gotten very few responses. If you like it (or even if you don't), please review so I know I'm not wasting my time with this story.**


	12. To Old Friends and New

**I love being exempt from exams! My best friend has to go to school today and I don't. Random fact. Thanks go out to my single reviewer for the last chapter **_**jmcmutt**_** for letting me know someone is reading! It seems like forever since I've updated, but I've been working on my Mortal Instruments fic which has been actually been getting a bunch of reviews. **

Chapter 12 To Old Friends and New

Rose's POV

Walking down the path to Hagrid's house, Albus and Rose ran into Emmett. Not literally, as they previously had with Ben. "Hello, Emmett!" called Rose cheerfully

When he had seen people coming, Emmett had nervously tried to hide the broom behind his back. He was unsuccessful. Rose could see the handle of the broom protruding over the first-year's head. He now tucked the broom under his arm.

"Has your flying improved much?" Albus inquired.

Emmett laughed. "Well, I don't fall off my broom anymore if that's what you mean." He turned to Rose. "Your cousin is a miracle worker with brooms, Rose. You should have him teach you next."

Albus looked down modestly and Emmett added. "But don't go getting a big head, Al."

"James is the Potter with the big head," Rose told Emmett. "With him around, there's no chance of Al getting overconfident." They all agreed.

"Albus," Rose said. "Emmett talked to your ghost."

"Its not _my_ ghost," Albus murmured. But he listened nonetheless as they told him what Emmett had found.

"There was something else that I forgot to tell you earlier, Rose," Emmett put in. The other two turned to face him. "I doubt this it true, but the ghost said that she didn't leave that note in our room."

"But she had to. There's no one else who could have done it."

"When I mentioned it, she acted confused and told me ghosts can't touch tangible objects." This was true of most ghosts. Poltergeists like Peeves were on of the few exceptions. "If that's true then how could she have done it?"

"Well, who else could have done it?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," he said. "I guess we'll have to deal with that later. For now, where were you going?"

"We were planning on visiting Hagrid," Albus said, taking the change of subject in stride. "Rose hasn't seen him since before school started."

"Hagrid?" Emmett asked. "He's that giant bloke isn't he?"

"He's only half giant," Rose informed him conspiratorially. "But he does have a brother who's full giant."

"Really?" Emmett's eyes lit up. "I've always wanted to meet a real giant. Will Hagrid let me meet him?"

"By Hogwarts rules, Hagrid's not really allowed to have Grawp," Albus said quietly, looking reprovingly at Rose. "He probably won't let you see until he knows you better."

"Cool!" Emmett exclaimed. "When do I get to see this Hagrid fellow?"

"Erm, you could come with us if you like," Albus said. "Hagrid loves to have company, especially since…"

"Since what?" Emmett asked.

"Well," Rose began. "It's kind of a touchy subject for Hagrid, so don't mention it to him, but a few years ago, his dog died."

"His dog?" Emmett obviously wondered why the man was so cut up about a dog.

"He had Fang for all of his life- Fang's life, not Hagrid's- since he was a puppy. So when the dog died, he was really sad," Rose understood; her mom's cat, Crookshanks had died years ago, and Hermione was still upset. Her father, who had hated the cat, comforted her, though they all knew its death didn't bother him.

"Got it," Emmett said. "Don't mention the giant and don't mention Fang. Can we go now?" Albus shook his head at his friend's excitement.

When the group got to Hagrid's cabin, they knocked on the door. Hagrid answered at Rose's second knock. "Who's there?"

"It's just us," Rose assured him. "Rose and Albus."

"Hello, Rosie!" Hagrid was the only one allowed to call her that. She heard Albus snicker at the nickname. "An' who's this?" Hagrid asked when he saw Emmett.

Emmett took a step back. Standing in the door way was a huge man with a grizzly beard that was beginning to turn gray. In his hand, the man held a cup that was disproportionate to his size.

"That's our friend Emmett," Rose said. "He wanted to meet you."

"Come in, come in." Hagrid said. "Right then, I got somethin' I want to show yeh." He closed the door behind the three kids and motioned for them to follow him.

He led them to the back of his small cabin and opened the door there. "It's jus' outside. C'mon now."

Wordlessly, the first-years followed him. In the garden near the back of the house, there was a small bird fluttering around. "Hagrid?" Rose asked. "Is that-?"

"It's a new pet," said Hagrid in a chipper tone. "I got it yesterday."

He sounded as excited as a kid in a candy store. Emmett stepped closer to get a better view. At the same time, both Rose and Albus took a step back. They had seen some of what Hagrid considered pets. He had blast-ended skrewts and dragons. Whatever this newest addition was, it couldn't be good.

"Emmett and I got a new pet, too." Albus told him. "We found a cat. It's right…" He looked around, but the cat had disappeared. "That's funny, it was right here a second ago."

"What is it?" Emmett asked, focusing on Hagrid's pet.

"Yeah, Hagrid what is that thing?" asked Albus suspiciously, turning his attention away from the cat. The animal was hovering erratically, its bright gold feathers flying faster than most birds could.

"You don' know?" Hagrid sounded disappointed. "Thought you'd know all about 'em, Albus."

Unlike the two boys, Rose recognized the creature. "I know what it is, Hagrid." They all turned to look at her. "That is a Snidget." Albus and Emmett still looked confused. "A Snidget is small bird with fully rotational wings covered in golden feathers. It has a long, thin beak."

"Never would have guessed." Albus motioned to the bird in its cage.

"I wasn't done, Al. The reason Hagrid expected you to know about it was that the Snidget brought about the invention of the Snitch. They're almost extinct, though, Hagrid. How did you get one?"

"When I was visitin' Graw…" he trailed off, as if remembering Emmett was there. "When I was visitin' me brother, I found a nest of the creatures. This l'il 'un was hurt."

"You have a brother, Hagrid?" Emmett asked deftly. Rose and Albus both saw where he was going. Albus, who was nearer, elbowed him in the stomach.

"Yep, I do." Hagrid said, oblivious to Ablbus elbowing his friend. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason," said Emmett at Albus' prodding.

"So you're taking care of the bird until it gets better?" Rose asked to change the subject. She also wanted to make sure Hagrid hadn't planned on keeping it. Hagrid gave a nod of agreement.

"Now that tha's all cleared up, would you lot like some tea?"

Tea with Hagrid was an unusual affair. The cups that were small for Hagrid were quite large for Emmett and the two cousins. Hagrid poured tea into Rose's cup and she held it with both hands to keep from dropping it.

They talked for a while when Hagrid interrupted. "I think we need ter 'ave a toast."

They all raised their glasses. "A toast," Hagrid repeated. "To old friends an' new."

Albus's POV

"Why did you interrupt me?" Emmett asked Albus. "I wanted to hear about the giant." They were walking up the stairs in the common room, on the way to the room they shared.

"You're not supposed to know about that!" Albus remarked, as if it was obvious. Rose had left them to go chat with Melody. "He doesn't know Rose told you about Grawp."

"That's really his name? Grawp?" Emmett inquired.

It was a weird name, if you thought about it thought Albus. Then again, Hagrid had once had a three-headed dog named Fluffy. "Don't look at me," Albus replied. I didn't name him. Hagrid might tell you about him when he gets to know you better."

"I hope so." Emmett declared. "How tall is he?"

Albus frowned at him. "I have no clue. You'll have to ask-" He was interrupted by a crashing sound coming from the end of the hall where their room was. Forgetting their conversation, the boys rushed forward to see what was going on. They threw open the door to find something they hadn't expected.

"Who are you?" Emmett asked the man standing in their room. His tone was wary and he looked at the man suspiciously.

"Huffing hippogriffs." The man muttered loudly. Then he dropped the pile of books he had been holding on Erik's bed and turned to face them. "Hello, boys!"

"Who are you?" Emmett repeated. Both he and Albus had drawn their wands. Not that they knew many spells, but Albus felt one could never be too cautious.

The man smiled and raised his hands in an 'I come in peace' gesture. "I'm your cat." He told them.

Emmett lowered his wand involuntarily. "Wait, a second, I must have heard you wrong. Did you just say you're _our cat_?"

"You heard me correctly," the man said.

"How is that possible?"

Albus gave Emmett an admonishing look. "You have a very spotty wizarding education, my friend. The man's an animargus. He can turn into a cat. It's not that unusual. McGonagall can, too."

Emmett was still trying to process this new piece of information when the man said, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm Spencer Patton, a friend of your dad, Albus. He sent me to protect you."

"Protect me?" Albus asked. "From what? Hogwarts is the safest place on earth. He's said that himself."

"That may be true, but we fear that someone's after your family." The cat-man, Spencer Patton said.

"Why would someone be after _us_?" He asked.

"It's a long story," Spencer Patton said. "And if you lower your wands, I'll tell you."

Great, Albus thought. As if passing my classes weren't hard enough. Now, someone I've never met is out to kill my whole family.

**Who do you think is after the Potters/Weasleys? Review if you want to find out!**


	13. Of Potters and Patton

**It has been a total of three months and seven days since I have updated this story. I wasn't going to finish it because i got bored, but then I changed my mind. I decided to add to it because I've had the ending planned out since like chapter seven and I just felt like writing it.**

Chapter 13 Of Potters and Patton

Albus's POV

The boys waited, but the man made no move to talk. Instead, he ran a hand through his slightly mussed dark brown hair. Albus and Emmet stared at him, the tension becoming stronger by the second. "So who's after Al?" Emmett finally asked when he could wait no longer.

As if he hadn't heard the boy, the man named Patton mused out loud, "Where to start?"

Albus and Emmet shared a glance. "The beginning." They said in unison.

Patton spared the boys a grin. "A very good place to start," he agreed. "You might want to sit down, though. It's a long story."

Albus leaned casually against the wall and Emmett took a seat on the edge of the bed furthest from the intruder. Albus was impressed that Patton didn't look the slightest bit offended at their reluctance to be near him. The man looked as if he didn't care the slightest so long as they listened.

And both of them were fully prepared to listen. "It all started a couple weeks ago," Patton began. "Our department has been getting rumors here and there of vandalism done in the name of You-Know-Who by death eaters. Of course, the ministry just attributed the destruction to kids playing pranks because You-Know-Who is, to use a muggle phrase, six feet under." To Albus, Patton looked as if he thought the ministry was incredibly stupid for entertaining that notion at all.

"Let me guess," Emmett put in, "It wasn't just kids."

"It never is." Patton sighed. "Almost a week to the day after these rumors began, there was…" He looked around warily before continuing. "There was a mass breakout from Azkaban."

Albus' jaw dropped. "But…" he began. "The only time anyone's ever broken out of Azkaban was…"

Emmett also looked shocked. Apparently his wizarding education had covered Azkaban. Which meant he probably also knew of the dementors that guarded the place. Albus gave an involuntary shiver at the thought of those horrific beings.

"Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban." Emmett reminded his friend.

"Yes," Patton confirmed. "Azkaban's guards have only failed their duty once, when they let Sirius Black escape."

"But what about the other mass breakout?" Albus asked. "The one that happened during the war?"

"The dementors were no longer working for the ministry when that happened. They chose to go over to You-Know-Who's side. The dark side, as it were." The dark haired man informed them. "But that is neither here nor there. This time, no one has any idea what happened. The dementors are still guarding the place, but a fourth of its inhabitants are just gone. Disappeared. Vamoosed."

"What happened?" The dark skinned boy asked curiously.

"We don't know. They're just gone."

"Who got out?" Albus asked, knowing this information had to be important.

"Well," Patton said reluctantly, "We don't have all of the names yet, but every single person who escaped so far was an ex-death eater. And a ton of them have escaped, from Lucius Malfoy to Rodolphus Lestrange."

They both said nothing as they mulled over the implications of this statement. There was no need to ask why they were after Harry Potter. He had, after all, killed their master. "But why would they be after me?" Albus asked after a moment. "Why are you following me around? Why not James?"

"Because James is nothing like his father. He's a Weasley born and bred, expect for the few traits he's inherited from his namesake. He looks nothing like his father and acts nothing like the man. Whereas you, Albus, could be his identical twin at your age. You even have some of the same mannerisms."

"I do not," Albus said defensively, to which the man responded only with a skeptical look.

"I have been keeping an eye on your brother, but I was instructed to pay closer attention to the younger Potter boy." Patton said seriously. "And so I have."

Rose's POV

Rose couldn't find her cousin or his best friend anywhere. She had parted ways with them at Hagrid's, having to take an extra credit assignment to Madame Montglove to make up for her dismal skills with a broomstick. Then, she had gone to work on the potion in the abandoned girls' bathroom on the second floor. She had gotten the idea from an old story her dad always told when her mum wasn't around. Something about Polyjuice Potion and Moaning Myrtle.

Afterward, Rose had expected to see the two best friends at dinner, but neither of them put in an appearance. When Albus and Emmett were nowhere to be found at the closing of the meal, she decided to go look for them. She searched the common room and their favorite spot to ride brooms in the woods among other places. Finally, it dawned on her that she hadn't checked their room. The redhead made her way up the boys' staircase and down the hall. Without bothering to knock, she flung the door open. What Rose saw on the other side could only be described as a shock.

Albus and Emmett were both in the room, but they were not the only ones. Seated on the bed across from Emmett was a tall, average-looking man in wizard robes. "Hello, Rose." Albus said with a falsely cheerful smile. She knew he was trying to distract her from the third person in the room.

"Don't you hello Rose me, Albus Severus Potter." She said warningly. "I can understand your desire to sneak certain objects past Filch, but why in Merlin's name did you sneak a _person _into Hogwarts?"

"Er… well," He said uncomfortably, looking to Emmett from help. Emmett shrugged, letting the dark-haired boy know that he was on his own. "Patton, this is Rose." Albus began. "Rose, this is… my cat."

Albus's POV

Albus smiled up at his cousin. He knew that it would get him nowhere, but it was always worth a try.

"Your cat?" Rose asked dubiously.

"Yes." Albus tried another ingratiating smile. It failed just as spectacularly as the first.

"Are you going to explain to me what exactly your cat is doing in your bed room masquerading around as a human?"

"See?" Emmett said loudly. "Even Rose doesn't get it, and she's the brains of the operations."

"Oh, I get it." Rose corrected him. "The man has to be an animagus. What I don't get is why he's here."

"Oh." Emmett replied glumly.

Both Albus and Rose ignored him. "A bunch of death eaters have broken out of Azkaban and dad sent him to protect me and James. He's an auror."

"Okay." Rose said nonchalantly, taking a seat beside Emmett on Erik's bed. She studied the auror intently, then seemed to relax. Albus allowed himself to relax too. Rose was always an excellent judge of character.

"Did you not just hear me?" He asked. He wondered how she could seem so nonchalant knowing death eaters were out to kill him.

"Albus." Rose chided. "Your father sent a fully trained auror to protect you at the safest place on the face of the wizard world. You're going to be fine."

"Well," Albus frowned. "If you put it like that, it makes me sound like an idiot."

"You're the one who said it, mate." Emmett pointed out. Albus glared at his friend.

"If you found out that you were going to be targeted by death eaters who just escaped from one of the best secured prisons in the world, you would be worried too." He retorted.

"You're safe with me." Patton said to the dark haired boy reassuringly.

"And look on the bright side," Rose told her cousin. "Now you don't have to think of a name for the cat."


	14. Bulb of a Phaedranassa

Chapter 14 Bulb of A Phaedranassa

Rose sat in the deserted girls' bathroom on the second floor stirring the contents of the cauldron in front of her. As she stirred, the potion began to bubble and emit small flares of light. Rose frowned uncomfortably. The potion smelled fowl, but that wasn't the reason for Rose's discomfort. Any moment now, Rose was expecting the ghost that haunted this very bathroom to appear.

Rose knew that Moaning Myrtle had been killed in this bathroom more than sixty years ago by Voldemort's basilisk. She felt sorry for the girl but wasn't very fond of her. Myrtle was called Moaning Myrtle for a reason. But Rose was thankful for Myrtle because she was the reason no one ever used this bathroom. Most girls avoided it like the plague.

Rose had gotten the idea from one of her father's stories about the good old days. He hadn't been very specific, but he had informed her (after making sure her mother was out of earshot) that this very room had an entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. It seemed like a great place to hide their potion at the time, but that was before Rose met Myrtle. Now, she just wanted the potion to be finished.

"Where is Albus?" She asked the empty room. Her cousin should have been here by now. Come to think of it, so should Emmett. She could only guess that Albus had gotten detained by Slughorn in the process of stealing fresh supplied from his stores in the dungeons.

Just then, she heard a loud crash from outside and the door to the bathroom was pushed open. She jumped up and went to cover her work station. Only to sit back down once she realized that the intruder was Emmett.

"Where is Albus?" She asked, seeing that he was alone.

"It's good to see you too, Rose." The boy replied good-naturedly.

"Oh, sorry." Rose felt her face flush. "It's just that he should have been here by now, and I'm afraid Slughorn may have caught him."

"Relax." Emmett coaxed. "He's fine." He held up a piece of paper folded into the shape of a paper airplane. As she watched, the note flapped its wings trying to get out of Emmett's grasp. "He told me Slughorn wanted help with something and sent me this."

"A note? What about the ingredients?"

In answer to her question, Emmett unfolded the note and laid it on the table. Rose watched in wonder as words began to write themselves across the paper. Leaning forward for a better look, Rose realized that the words weren't words at all. Instead they were symbols. She ran a finger over one and pulled back in surprise when it began to glow.

"What is that?" She asked Emmett curiously.

"Al told me he got it from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes over Christmas. Watch." Emmett leaned forward and pressed his finger to the paper. The hieroglyph-type symbol began to glow again and suddenly where the symbol had been, there was now a unicorn hair.

Rose allowed herself a moment of shock before her usual reasonable self took over. "Well then," she said briskly. "Let's begin."

Albus's POV

"Albus Potter!" A voice boomed loudly in Albus's ear. "Just the man I was hoping to see."

Albus hurriedly stuffed the piece of parchment he was holding into the pocket of his robes. He tried not to grimace at the sound of Slughorn's voice. With every encounter, he liked the man less and less. But some things couldn't be helped. He turned to face the professor, quickly pasting a smile onto his face.

"Hello, Professor." He replied. He wanted to tell the old fat man to buzz off, but this was the whole reason Rose had sent him to gather the ingredients for their potion; on the off chance that he would get caught.

"I was just… er," Albus tried to think of a logical explanation for his presence in the room. "I, uh, needed your help with something." He lied.

"What do you need, Mr. Potter?" Slughorn asked. "Do you need a pass to get out of a lesson, help with potions, special recommendations?" Slughorn winked conspiratorially. "I have quite a bit of pull you know, being the oldest staff member."

"Oh, um, no." Albus said. He was no longer surprised by what people would do to be able to say that they knew him. Or his father. It grated on his nerves, the way people like this slimy man tried to use them. "I only needed help with that last potion."

"Potion?" Slughorn asked sounding disappointed. He was obviously hoping for something more scandalous, such as a get out of detention free slip.

"Yes, professor." Albus replied. He was beginning to get the hang of lying. It required a quick mind and the ability to bluff. No wonder Rose was so good at it. "In class the last potion, Grigorian, I think it was. I wanted curious as to whether we chopped the Baltic root or grated it."

"Oh." Slughorn was definitely disappointed now. Albus watched as he pushed away the frown that came to his wrinkled old face in exchange for an ingratiating smile. "I'm sure that's in your text book, dear boy." The man said. "But if you ever need anything, be sure to remember that I'm here." Albus nodded and watched as the professor disappeared into his office.

As soon as the man was out of sight, he pulled a now crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket. He also got out his wand. Tapping the parchment twice with the wand, he muttered a spell under his breath. Without warning, the paper formed itself into a paper airplane and took off down the hall. After stowing his wand in the sleeve of his robes, Albus followed.

Rose's POV

At dinner that evening, Rose sat surrounded by friends. Well, she was sitting by two friends. The rest of the nearby benches were taken up with family members. Melody sat to her right, and she and Rose exchanged polite conversation. Rose felt bad about not telling the girl about Patton and the Videre de Mortis potion, but she knew it was for the best.

The other friend sitting close by was, of course, Emmett. Albus had just gotten a letter delivered by Loki from his parents. Rose pretended not to notice that Emmett was staring moodily at the letter. She realized that she had never seen the boy get a letter of his own, and wondered about the situation behind it. She decided that she would ask Albus later.

For now, she focused on the contents of Albus's letter. He had shown it to both she and Emmett, making sure to keep it out of the rest of their family's line of sight because it mentioned Patton, or as Rose still sometimes referred to him in her head, the cat. The letter was from Harry Potter himself, and it only confirmed everything that the cat told them.

Rose had begun to wonder if the ghost was correct about someone being after the Potters. About the same time her dire warnings began, the death eaters had broken out of Azkaban. She also just so happened to warn a Potter, whom it was likely they were after. Rose felt that the ghost's warning and the appearance of Patton might somehow be connected.

The cat in question was sitting under Albus's feet at the moment being teased by Fred with scraps of cheese. Rose was waiting for Patton to bite the boy's hand to teach him a lesson. But alas, that was not to happen. So she turned back to her meal and the friendly conversations.

"What have you been up to, Rosie?" Her cousin Molly asked curiously. "I've hardly seen you since school started."

"It's great here. I love all of my classes." Rose told her. "Except for charms. I stink at charms."

From her seat beside Molly, Andromeda rolled her eyes. "And when Rose says she stinks at something, what she means is, she isn't highly proficient in it." She reached for a buttered roll. "Only normally proficient."

"I don-" Rose began to defend herself only to realize that the accusation was true.

"Yes, you do." Andromeda countered. "But that's okay. Everyone has to have something they're bad at. It's only human."

"And here I was thinking that little Rose was a werewolf." Fred interjected dryly. He had given up on teasing the cat and was now moving onto teasing his cousins.

"At least she's not a troll, like you." James told his cousin with a grin.

"I'm a fair wondrous troll at that." Fred agreed with a flippant smile. "What with my amazing looks and all." This comment was met with silence as those around the table pondered the best way to disillusion him. "I know what you're all thinking," He continued. "If only you were as fit as me."

"Yes, Fred." Andromeda agreed sarcastically, "that's exactly what we were thinking."

"Actually," Albus put in, "I was thinking that James was a troll too."

This statement elicited a smile from everyone at the table. "A much better looking troll than Fred," Roxanne called from a few seats away.

"Watch it, Roxy." Her brother warned. "My father owns a whole shop full of practical jokes. And I know where you live." Coming from Fred, the entire table knew that that was not a threat, but a promise.

"Of course you know where I live, you bugger." Roxanne's smirk belied her words. "You live there too." Not giving Fred a chance to reply, she turned back to the person sitting in front of her.

"Girls." Fred muttered under his breath. "They're so…"

He looked up to find four girls watching him. "Aren't you going to finish that sentence?" Andromeda asked sweetly.

"I may be an idiot," Fred sent a glance to James, Al, and Emmett for help. They all turned studiously back to their plates. Rose waited for him to realize that he wasn't going to get any help. "But I'm not stupid."

"That is a point that some would beg to differ." James pointed out.

Rose had been so focused on her cousins that she hadn't been paying attention to the rest of the Great Hall. Now, however, her attention was drawn a further down the Gryffindor table when there was a loud crash. Someone's plate of plum pudding had fallen to the floor. Almost as soon as it hit the ground, it disappeared. Rose had always assumed there was a cleaning charm that kept the floor clean.

But this was not what drew Rose's attention. Her attention was drawn by a fifth year in Gryffindor robes. He had messy blonde hair and a strange look about him. It was the same fifth year that had dropped his plum pudding and now, he was attempting to fit both more pudding and a generous amount of treacle tart onto a new plate. Sitting beside the boy was a person who could only be his identical twin.

Seated on the table, in between the two blondes was a flower pot. The flower it held drooped down a little and was bright pink in color. It was an odd thing to be in possession of two fifteen or sixteen year old boys, but Rose wasn't concerned about that.

She recognized the flower. "Albus!" She whispered excitedly to the boy next to her. "Albus!"

"What?" Albus asked loudly. "What is it?"

"Keep your voice down." Rose chided. She checked to make sure no one had noticed. "And look down there."

She pointed out the flower sitting between the twins. "What?" Albus asked confusedly. "Is so important about watching Lorcan Scamander shove food into his mouth?"

"Scamander?" Rose asked. The name sounded familiar.

"Yes, Scamander." Albus agreed. "Those are Aunt Luna's children. But that doesn't mean I want to watch them eat. It's disgusting enough to watch James eat."

"No. That's not it." Rose said affably. "Look on the table. Between them."

Albus did as she asked. "It's a flower." He pointed out. "A bright pink flower." He looked at Rose as if to see if this was what all the fuss was about.

"That's not just any flower, Al." She corrected excitedly. "_That_ is a Phaedranassa."

Albus frowned. Rose could tell he recognized the word but couldn't remember why it was important. "Phaedranassa?" He repeated.

"The bulb of a phaedranassa." Rose recited. "It's the last ingredient in the potion."

"Oh!" she could tell the he got it now.

"That's great, Rose." Albus said. There was something in his voice that told Rose a but was coming. She frowned. Despite the fact that she was one of the smartest witches her age, she had a tendency to overlook small issues. Albus, on the other hand, had a tendency to look over the whole plan carefully before acting. She figured it was this tendency that caused him to say what he did next. "There's just one problem."

"What?"

Albus sent a last glance at the pretty flower before saying, "How are we supposed to get the bulb?"


	15. Thestrals and Arguments

**I was rereading the first few chapters of this and I saw where I said that I wanted the story to be mostly about Albus. Oops. Totally forgot about that. Well, obviously it's not going to be mostly about Albus as Rose will play a large role, being given her own POV and all. That means I should probably think of a new name for this, but that would take more effort I'm not willing to expend. **

Chapter 15 Thestrals and Arguments

Albus's POV

"Get out of my way, first year." Albus narrowly avoided being shoved into a tree as someone pushed past him. He turned to glare at the person who pushed him, knowing even before he turned around that it was his older brother.

"You know, in some countries it's considered rude to shove people." Albus observed with a frown. "This is one of them." He leaned against the tree he had almost face-planted and looked up at the redhead. Albus was waiting for the rest of his class to appear for their Care of Magical Creatures lesson. He was at the site almost an hour early because James had changed the times on his schedule as a prank. James had obviously planned this and was skiving off his potions class to torment his younger brother.

James only smirked. "Albus, look out!" He called dramatically. "There's a thestral!" James jumped backwards and pretended to cower in fear.

Normally, Albus would have let his brother's taunts get to him, but right now he didn't feel like taking any of James's well-aimed blows whether physical or verbal. He scowled at his older brother. "You're lying." Albus said.

"Am not." James said easily. His smirk returned to his face, but his eyes never left the "thestral".

"Are too." Albus insisted. "You said thestrals were invisible and if they're invisible then you can't see them."

He didn't believe James for a second, but his brothers' eyes were obviously following the movement of _something _behind his back. Albus was beginning to be unnerved by James's stare. "That's n-" James began. Before he could finish, the _thing_ behind Albus let out a loud thestral-like noise.

"Ahhhh!" Albus screamed. He jumped backward and crashed into his brother, knocking them both to the ground.

It took him less than a minute to figure out that there was no thestral behind him. Standing where he had believed a thestral to be was a tall, brown-haired boy. The boy was doubled over with laughter. As soon as he realized this, Albus hauled himself to his feet. James was still sprawled on the ground; literally rolling with laughter.

"That's not funny, James!" Albus shouted. He had never had any appreciation for his brother's jokes. Especially the ones aimed at him.

"Of course… it… was." James gasped between bouts of laughter. "It was bloody hilarious." The other boy reached over to pull James to his feet and they slapped hands. "Great job, Pete."

"Couldn't have done it without you, James." The boy James had called Pete said cheerily. He turned to face Albus. "Sorry about that, mate." He said good-naturedly. "Name's Peter Farnham, but you can call me Pete. I'm a third-year."

"Albus Potter." Albus said eying the older boy warily. "First-year. Though I'm sure you already knew that."

"That I did." Pete replied, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "You're brother here told me about you."

"Whatever he said isn't true." Albus said automatically. "He lies. A lot."

He could tell James was trying to hide another grin. "I'm well aware of that." Pete said in a tone that indicated he'd had personal experience with this fact. "So you don't play Quidditch?"

"He's a Potter." A voice from behind Albus interrupted. "He not only plays Quidditch. He's bloody brilliant at it."

"Andromeda." Pete acknowledged the girl with a smile.

"Hullo, Peter." She returned his smile as she moved to stand beside Albus. "Hullo, Al."

"I don't get a hello?" James demanded from beside Pete.

Andromeda turned to eye her younger cousin. "No, but I'll tell you what you do get." She told him. He backed up a bit. He knew Andromeda well enough to be wary of her. "You get ten points docked from Gryffindor."

"What?" James frowned. "You can't do that."

"I can't." Andromeda acknowledged. "And I wouldn't if I could, but you know who can?" Without waiting for him to answer, she finished. "Professor Longbottom."

Both Pete and Albus looked back and forth from Andromeda to James. To Albus, it was almost like watching a Quidditch match. "But he couldn't know-"

"But nothing." Andromeda cut the second-year off. "A word to the wise, James; don't try to trick a professor that has known you since you were born. He guessed that you were skipping class and sent me to find you."

James scowled at the older girl. Pete, on the other hand, laughed at James's predicament. "Oh, don't think you're off the hook either, Peter Farnham." The smile disappeared from Pete's face. "When I tell him that you only pretended to be sick, he's going to give you detention too."

"Come on, 'Dromeda." Pete said cajolingly. "You wouldn't snitch on a fellow third-year would you?" He gave a very James-like grin. "Especially not me."

The way he said it made Albus wonder if Pete and Andromeda had some sort of history. Judging by the surprised look on James' face, he suspected the answer was a no. Andromeda's reaction surprised both of her cousins. Instead of telling the boy that she would snitch on him in a heartbeat, which was what Albus and James expected her to do, she looked down at her feet and blushed.

"Andromeda!" James exclaimed looking from Andromeda to Pete oddly. "What's wrong with you?"

She recovered herself quickly. "Oh stuff it, James." She said with a pointed look at her cousin. Avoiding eye contact with Pete, she continued. "You need to come back to Herbology with me."

"If it's Al's safety you're worried about, _Dromeda._" James said giving her a sly look, "You don't need to worry."

"With you, I always worry." She replied.

"He'll be fine." James assured her in that worrying way he had. "Ickle Albus is always safe with me. Like that time I saved him from falling off dad's broom."

"You're idea of safe must be different from everyone else's," Andromeda retorted. "You're the one who put him on Uncle Harry's new broom in the first place."

"But I caught him, didn't I?"

Typical James, Albus thought. He took credit for actions that weren't even purposeful. "Actually," Albus put in, "You didn't."

"Details, details." James scoffed. He waved his hand dismissively. "I broke your fall. That's what counts."

Andromeda sighed dramatically. Finally turning to face Pete, she said, "You see what I have to deal with every day? Bickering tossers who happen to be related to me. It's a cruel twist of fate."

"Cruel?" Pete said dubiously as the two brothers continued to argue. "Your cousins are a bloody riot."

Andromeda sighed again. "Just like the rest of them, you are." The brothers were now shouting at each other and she had to shout to be heard.

Pete gave her a knowing grin and said loudly. "But you wouldn't have us any other way."

Rose's POV

Rose wasn't aware of her cousins' argument, but she wouldn't have been surprised. Right now, she was busy having an argument of her own. She and Victoire Weasley were ensconced in the library, away from the sight of the librarian. They were whispering loudly, but luckily no one was nearby to hear.

"I only want to know _why_." Victoire told the younger girl. "If you'll tell me why, I'll do it."

"I already told you, Vic." Rose whispered heatedly. "I can't tell you now."

"Well then I won't help you." Victoire said matter-of-factly. "You'll just have to get Lorcan and Lysander's flower all by yourself. Though why you want a flower from either of them is beyond me."

"Please, Victoire." Rose said in her most convincing tone of voice. Victoire had taken care of Rose since she was little, baby sitting her whenever her parents were out, and even helping tutor her sometimes. Because of this, Rose knew that her cousin felt a since of responsibility and loyalty to her. Rose was willing to use this to her advantage. "For me."

"I'm sorry, Rosie." Victoire said. Her slight French accent slipped into her voice as she talked. "I can't do it without a logical reason. Besides, it would be disloyal to Teddy." Victoire and Teddy were dating now; made official by their snog goodbye on the Hogwarts Express. It wasn't as if Rose had asked Victoire to cheat on him.

"All I'm asking is that you do a little flirting. Find out how they got the flower. Mention that you'd like one. See if you can get them to give it to you or send another one your way. That's not disloyal to Teddy, Vic. If it was, I wouldn't ask you to do it." Rose said seriously. Teddy had been a part of their family since he was born and Rose could think of nothing worse than hurting him. She would never convince Victoire to do anything that she believed might hurt Teddy.

"I just don't understand why you want the flower so badly." Victoire replied. Rose could tell that her older cousin was quickly becoming frustrated with her.

"If you must know, it's very rare." Rose had decided to tell Victoire a half-truth. A white lie told with good intentions couldn't hurt anyone, she reasoned. "It only grows in South America. I'd like to use it in an experiment, but I couldn't get access to any."

"Oh." Victoire said. She wondered why it was so important that Rose not tell her this. Then a new thought occurred to her. "Is this one of your normal experiments?" She asked worriedly. "Or is it something against Hogwarts policy? Because if it's something restricted, I refuse to be a part of it. As a prefect, I have to set a good example for younger students. Getting expelled would do the exact opposite."

Time for an outright lie. I'm sorry, apologized in her head. "The former. Defninitely."

"Oh. Okay." Victoire smiled brightly at the younger girl. "Why didn't you just say so?"

Rose shrugged uncomfortably. "I didn't think you would go along with it." She mumbled something about Lorcan and Lysander and Teddy and phaedranassa that was almost intelligible to Victoire.

"Phandrassina?" Victoire asked curiously. "Is that the name of the plant?"

"It's phaedranassa." Rose corrected. "But yes, that is the name of Lorcan and Lysander's plant." They were quiet for a minute before Rose said, "So are you in?"

Victoire smiled down at her little cousin. "I'm in."


	16. Stupid Professors

Chapter 16 Stupid Professors and Their Stupid Assignments

Albus' POV

Albus Potter was late for class. As usual. James had switched his schedule again, and now he had only just realized that his charms lesson had begun five minutes ago. As soon as he had noticed the discrepancy in the schedule, Albus had scooped up his bag and set off for his lesson. Now, he was hurrying down the corridor. He turned the corner sharply and came to an abrupt halt as he crashed into someone.

"Hey, watch it Potter." A cold voice said. Albus started to apologize until he realized that the person in front of him was none other than Scorpius Malfoy.

"Shove off, Malfoy." Albus snapped. He didn't have time to argue with an insufferable git, much less _this _insufferable git.

Malfoy only smirked. "How's your cousin, Potter?" Coming from anyone else, I might have been an innocent question, but Malfoy made it sound like a death threat.

"Which one?" Albus asked as if he didn't know what Scorpius was talking about.

"I think you know exactly which cousin I'm speaking of." Malfoy replied, that cold smirk seemed permanently attached to his face. "After all, who could forget Rose?"

"Stay away from her, Malfoy." Albus growled. "Or you'll regret it. With that, he pushed past the blonde boy and strode away.

Rose's POV

Rose was having a bad day. First, she had woken up late and missed breakfast. Next, she had had to deal with Albus who was in a bad mood for some unknown reason. Then, she had also figured out that she was missing an ingredient for the potion. Getting Al to steal it would set them back at least two days. And now, to top it all off, she was partnered with Scorpius Malfoy.

If she had known this would happen, she would have used something from her uncle's joke shop to get out of double Defense Against the Dark Arts. But no, she had come to class like a good student and this was what she got.

It had started at the beginning of class.

"Settle down now, class!" Professor Tennille said loudly. The small, plump woman had a hard time controlling the mixed class of Gryffindors and Slytherins. Rose was beginning to wonder just how such an uninspiring woman had managed to receive the most coveted position as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. She decided the woman must have connections at the Ministry.

The students kept chattering away oblivious to the woman's attempts to shut them up. Even Albus was paying little attention to Professor Tennille. He was sending glares across the room to Scorpius Malfoy who only smirked in return. On the other side of the room, first years were yelling and laughing. Some were even arguing in true Gryffindor/Slytherin fashion.

The chaos was further disrupted as a red-faced Fred Weasley burst through the door. Half of the class turned to look at the intruder, but the other half continued their various discussions. Seeing that he had become the center of attention, Fred pulled himself to his full height and sauntered to the front of the room.

"Hello, Tennille." He grinned to the DADA teacher.

The flustered woman frowned sternly at him. "It's Professor Tennille to you, Mr. Weasley," she told the boy. "For what reason are you interrupting my class today?"

"I came to see you of course." The red head replied. "You're looking lovely as ever." He, like his cousin James, thrived on attention be it good or bad.

"I want the real reason and I want it soon, Weasley, or I am deducting fifteen points from Gryffindor." Professor Tennille told him. It looked to Rose as if the teacher was quickly losing patience with her cousin. Then again, most people did when it came to Fred.

"McGonagall needs Albus." Fred said with a wink at his cousin. Seeing that he brought no interesting news, many students turned back to their neighbors. Turning to eye the rowdy group of first years, Fred grinned. He turned back to Professor Tennille and said, "Tennille, I think you might need to be a little more assertive."

Rose could see in the woman's face that she had reached the point where she lost patience with Fred. "I'll thank you kindly to shut your mouth, Mr. Weasley." The teacher snapped.

The class instantly quieted. All eyes were trained on the professor who continued calmly as if she hadn't just done something completely out of character. "Now that I have your attention, sit quietly while I take care of this." She turned to Fred and announced loudly. "Fifteen points from Gryffindor thanks to Mr. Weasley over here. Now, Fred, I suggest you take your cousin and leave before I decide to take away more points."

Beside Rose, Albus pushed back his chair and got to his feet. "See you later," he told her. With one last glare at Malfoy, he followed Fred out of the room.

"Okay, class." Professor Tennille said to the still-quiet classroom. "We're going to begin now." She paced back and forth in the front of the classroom. "For the next month, we're going be practicing basic defensive spells with partners." This was greeted with cheers. "At the end of the unit, you _are _going to be tested on this, so don't slack off."

A hand shot up in the front of the classroom. "Can we pick our partners?" A girl wearing Slytherin robes asked.

"Good question, Miss Durant, but no. I already made out a list of who is partnered with whom." She held up a piece of paper. This was greeted with groans and murmurs. Each person was hoping to get a fellow housemate as a partner. Professor Tennille smiled and added, "Gryffindors with Slytherins and vice versa."

Rose could have sworn the woman smirked when she said it. She couldn't help but feel that the assignment was a form of payback for their behavior. "Now," Tennille continued. "When I call your name, move to stand beside your partner." There was a lot of mumbling, but no one voiced their objections outright. "Emmett Shacklebolt and Aria Durant, Gregory Shaw and Patrick Shaunessy, Walker Montague and Carlina Prince, Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley-" She was cut off by two loud protests.

"I can't be his partner." Rose objected loudly. "We don't get along."

"Weasley can't do anything right, we'll both fail." Scorpius said simultaneously.

The professor only looked at them. "If you want to pass my class, the two of you will have to learn to work together." Scorpius glared openly at the professor, but Rose just frowned. To put it lightly, she did not fancy being Scorpius Malfoy's partner for five minutes, much less a whole month.

And yet, she realized with a sigh, that was exactly what she was going to have to do.

She walked over to Malfoy, muttering under her breath about stupid professors and their stupid assignments.

"Finally, something we can agree on." Scorpius said distastefully. Now that was a scary thought.

Albus' POV

"What does McGonagall want me for?" Albus inquired of his older cousin.

His question was rewarded with a grin. Fred replied, "That depends on what you've been up to. Personally, I'm betting that she wants to berate you for helping Hagrid sneak a dragon onto school grounds."

Albus frowned. "That was…" he began. Comprehension dawned on him as he met his cousin's eye. "McGonagall doesn't know anything about this, does she?" He asked the red head.

Fred grinned. "There are lots of things McGonagall doesn't know." He observed without acknowledging Albus' question. "She doesn't know that butterbeer is an ingredient in some love potions. She doesn't know that the head boy and head girl are breaking the guidelines by dating. And she also doesn't know about the secret passage next to-"

"Just answer the question, Fred." Albus resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Nope. As far as I know, McGonagall's still busy searching for a few Slytherins that an anonymous tip told her were skipping class, but I felt that Tennille could do without detailed information on our whereabouts." Looking around to make sure that Filch was no where nearby, Fred turned down a nearby corridor. Albus hurried to follow him.

"Where are we going?" Albus asked. He stopped, trying to figure out their destination.

Fred only walked faster down the deserted hallway. "You'll see." He replied mysteriously.

Albus did the only thing he could under the circumstances, though he had a feeling he was going to regret it. He followed Fred.

Rose's POV

"I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public." Rose observed to the pale, blonde Slytherin standing in front of her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the spell right. He was insisting on flicking his wand to the right then upward instead of to the left.

"I think I know how to do the easiest spell by now, Weasley." He snapped with a frown.

"That's not how you do it." Rose commented to Scorpius for at least the fifth time. He shook her off. The red head rolled her eyes and let him try the spell again.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted above the cacophony of noises that echoed around the class room. Rose's wand remained snugly in her hand.

She didn't bother holding back her smile. "Told you."

"Like you can do any better." The boy quipped. "The daughter of a mud-blood and a blood-traitor. I'm surprised you're not a squib."

Rose's jaw clenched. She could take insults aimed directly at her, but it was a low blow to insult her family. She was going to make Malfoy regret it. "Expelliarmus!" She shouted.

His wand flew across the room. It narrowly missed hitting Emmett in the head. "I would insult you now," she said superiorly. "But the sad truth is that you wouldn't understand and if I tried to explain it to you, your brain might implode from information overload."

The blonde boy's eyes narrowed. "Watch it, Weasley," was all he said before he went to retrieve his wand. When he came back, he came prepared with a retort. "Anyone can do a spell once. I'd like to see you do it again."

Rose grinned. "No, Malfoy. I'd like to see some of this expertise you claim to have."

"Fine." He gritted his teeth and tried the spell again. To no avail.

"Let me try." Rose interrupted. She flicked her wand and repeated the spell for the second time. As before, the Hawthorne wand flew immediately out of Malfoy's grasp. "Oh yeah," She grinned. "You may grovel at my feet now." He went again to retrieve his wand.

Scorpius made a sour face as if he had tasted a lemon. "Yeah, and _I'm _the conceited one."

"Sorry, Mafloy." Rose said triumphantly. "But I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent."

This partnership might not be so bad, Rose decided. If things kept going the way they were, pretty soon, Scopius Malfoy's giant ego would be almost nonexistent thanks to her. Oh, yeah. She could get used to this.


	17. Scheming Cousins

Chapter 17 Scheming Cousins

Albus' POV

"Where are we?" Albus inquired. He held his lighted wand up to study the cavernous tunnel better.

Fred paused in the act of moving a ceiling high pile of debris out of their way to grin at his cousin. "That is for me to know and you to find out." He told Albus mysteriously.

Albus just looked at the older boy. "You do realize that you just used a muggle expression, don't you?" He asked deadpan. Albus and his siblings had the excuse of a parent being raised in the muggle world when they made such a slip. Fred, however, was born of two people raised in the wizard world.

"I'm aware." Fred replied in that easy way of his. "Now come help me move this rubbish."

Albus did as his cousin asked. Suddenly, he stopped and his eyebrows knit with thought. "Didn't you say earlier that you use this passageway often?" He asked curiously. The older boy affirmed the statement with a nod. "Then would you care to explain the presence of this pile of rubbish?"

Fred only grinned secretively."You'll see," was all he said.

This statement was greeted with muffled muttering from Albus. "Bloody cousin," He mumbled low enough that Fred couldn't hear, "Worse than my bloody brother." He pretended not to see Fred's grin grow wider.

It didn't take long to remove the pile of debris from the passageway and restack it haphazardly behind them. When they were finished, Fred led Albus forward. From their new vantage point, the boys could see a light at the end of the passageway. The light was coming through small cracks in a wooden door. Albus soon figured out the purpose of the pile blocking the way. With the block in place, anyone coming from either side would assume the tunnel had caved long ago and make no further effort to investigate.

The space between the door and the barrier in the tunnel was filled with boxes. The small space resembled a storage room of some sort. Fred covered the few feet to the door in two long strides. Before Albus could do anything, he threw the door open unceremoniously. Al's mouth dropped open in shock as he caught sight of what was on the other side.

Rose's POV

"Come on, Vic." Rose coaxed. "You promised."

"I know," the older girl sighed. "And I'm going to do it. Don't worry." With yet another sigh, the prefect pushed herself up from the Gryffindor table and made her way over to the table where the Scamander twins were seated.

Rose watched as Victoire plopped down in the seat across from the two and they lifted their faces to see the part-veela girl smile at them. Judging from Victoire's expression, their conversation seemed to be going well, but Rose wasn't by a nature a patient person. She decided to go see what was taking her cousin so long.

Rose walked as inconspicuously as possible over to the Ravenclaw table and sat beside a giggling group of second years a few feet away from Victoire, Lorcan, and Lysander. The second years abruptly stopped giggling as Rose plopped down beside them.

"Rose?" One of them asked. Rose looked up to find her cousin Dominique. One notable thing about Dominique Weasley was the fact that her hair was a shade lighter than the rest of the Weasley family. Her hair was as blonde as it was red, making her stand out. Another, slightly more notable thing was that she was the only Weasley ever to not be in Gryffindor. Rather than causing her to be disowned (as Rose's father had threatened to do), this only made the second year more popular with her family.

Rose held back a smile. She would happen to sit down right next to the only Ravenclaw that would talk to her. "I haven't seen you in forever, Dom." She told the older girl.

"Not since school started at least." The strawberry-blonde agreed. She introduced her group of friends whose names Rose promptly forgot. As Dom and her friends went back to their conversation, Rose let out a sigh of relief. As much as she loved her cousins, she couldn't let them distract her.

Rose turned her attention back to Victoire and the Scamanders just in time to hear one of the boys (she couldn't tell them apart) say, "We have a whole collection of rare plants, if you would like to see them. Mum and Dad send them from all over."

"I'm curious about that one in particular." Victoire batted her eyelashes flirtatiously and Rose silently commended herself for not picking Andromeda to do this job. Merlin knew, Andromeda couldn't flirt like that. As it was, Lorcan and Lysander were practically drooling over Victoire. "Could you tell me more about it, Lorcan?" The twin Victoire referred to as Lorcan puffed up proudly.

"The phaedranassa," Lorcan began. "Is really rare-"

"You can only find it in certain parts of South America," The other twin interrupted. It was useless information, as Rose already knew it.

"That's neat." Victoire said. "And it's so pretty. I would love to have one to put in my room."

"Well…" The one called Lysander started.

"We could always give you one of ours," Lorcan finished.

"Really?" Victoire rewarded the boys with a smile. "That would be so sweet of you."

Rose decided that she had heard enough. She said goodbye to Dominique and with a secretive smile, she went back to the Gryffindor table. When she got there, she was surprised to find Albus seated in his normal seat next to Emmett.

She hadn't seen him since the beginning of Defense Against the Dark Arts when Fred had pulled him from class. She hadn't seen Fred since then either. Now, the two of them were sitting innocently across from each other as if nothing had happened. Rose sat down beside Albus and eyed Fred suspiciously.

"Hello, Rosie." He said cheerfully.

"What did you blow up today?" Rose asked in reply.

"Nothing." Fred replied a touch too innocently. "Can't a bloke be cheerful for five minutes without having his motives questioned?"

Rose gave him a dubious look, but was saved from answering by the arrival of Andromeda. "A bloke, yes." The older girl replied, taking the seat to Fred's right. "You, no."

Fred and Andromeda began to argue, but Rose was more focused on the first years sitting beside her. She saw Emmet nudge Albus and ask, "What did McGonagall want you for earlier?"

Albus shrugged, "Something about Filch complaining about students being out after hours. After my detention earlier for the same thing, she felt the need to warn me." If Rose hadn't been paying close attention, she would have missed the nervous glance Albus sent across the table to Fred.

Emmett, however, remained oblivious to the scheming cousins. He took Albus' answer in stride and soon, the two were onto the subject of Quidditch and Albus' absence from DADA was forgotten by everyone but Rose. Rose had grown up with Fred. She knew him well enough to know that whatever he was cooking up, it couldn't be good. She didn't know why Albus had gotten involved, but then she had a feeling she didn't want to.

Rose went to transfiguration still lost in thought about her cousins, the potion, and Malfoy the Git as she had dubbed the Slytherin. Rose thanked Merlin that Fred wasn't in her year. She loved her cousin, but she couldn't take his antics on a regular basis.

The rest of the day was fairly eventless. Albus and Emmett were in most of her classes. Since they were in her year, they sat down in front of her in charms. She couldn't help but notice that Patton, who usually could not be pried from the boys' side, was nowhere to be seen. Rose realized that she hadn't seen the cat all day. She began to wonder if auror business had pulled him away, but was distracted as the professor entered the classroom.

"Hello, class." Filius Flitwick, the one and only Hogwarts charms professor, waddled into the classroom. His height inhibited him from doing much of anything else. Rose knew that this was because of the fact that he was half-goblin, but that was irrelevant to the situation. He walked to the front of the room and said in his high voice, "Today, we are going to practice the Wingardium Leviosa spell." This statement was greeted with cheers. "However, as with all charms, to do it you must first learn all about the charm itself. Yes, this means book work."

Quite a few people booed and Flitwick tried to stifle their protests. To say the least, he was not an intimidating figure. In fact, he was quite laughable. Eventually, the class quieted enough to do the assigned work. Rose, as usual, was the first one finished. She rose to turn in her parchment and was distracted by a loud screeching noise coming from the hall. If Rose hadn't known better, she would say it was the sound of a two cats getting into a fight.

Half of the class looked up from their work to eye the door. As if on cue, it was thrown open by a very distressed-looking Filch. He was clutching something in his hand that seemed to be the source of the screeching. "Whose cat is this?" He demanded in his creepy way.

Rose immediately recognized the cat as Patton. She saw Albus and Emmett exchange glances. Tentatively, Albus raised his hand. "It's mine, sir." He told Filch.

"Keep it away from Mrs. Norris if you want to keep it." The man replied brusquely. With that, he tossed the cat on the floor and exited the room.

"May I…?" Albus began, his question directed at Flitwick.

The little man nodded graciously. "Turn in what you have finished so far, Mr. Potter. Then you may take the cat back to your room." Albus hurried to turn in his paper. Half the class was still watching as he held open the door for the cat to exit behind him. Rose turned in her finished paper and followed them to the Gryffindor common room.

When they made it to the tower, a few older students were milling around or studying during their free periods. Albus, Rose, and Patton ignored them and made a beeline from Al's room. When they got there, Patton shifted back to his human form.

"That's much better," the auror said, sitting down on Emmett's bed. "Now, as you may have guessed, business called me away. I have an important message from your father, Albus."


End file.
